Spiders

The deadly mating rituals, hunting tactics, web architecture, and generally misunderstood lives of spiders.

Latest in Spiders

a black cat sitting in green grass ready to pounce
Spiders

Cats love to massacre bugs, and scientists have the videos to prove it

By Mack DeGeurin

a plump brown spider
Spiders

Beware, beachgoers: New spider discovered in California’s sand dunes

By Margherita Bassi

A wasp spider in its web inside Sierra Mariola Natural Park in Bocairent, Valencian Community, Spain.
Spiders

Spiders ‘decorate’ their webs to help trap dinner

By Laura Baisas

Black tarantula with pixelated rectangle over back thorax
Spiders

These tarantulas’ genitals are so long, it required a new genus

By Andrew Paul

A Guatemalan tiger rump tarantula (Davus pentaloris) in a terrarium with reflections.
Spiders

Tarantulas adapt their running style after losing legs

By Laura Baisas

a spider with a large white fungus covering its head
Spiders

Fungus-infected zombie spiders discovered in Northern Ireland

By Laura Baisas

Two views of a slingshot spider (Theridiosoma gemmosum) web. The right image shows the web’s cone shape with a spider at the tip.
Spiders

Watch a slingshot spider deploy a perfectly-timed trap

By Laura Baisas

Brown tarantulas mating
Spiders

Male tarantulas seek love, find death around Halloween

By Andrew Paul

A male and a female Aphonopelma jacobii. Their small size can be seen when compared to the acorn cap, pine needles, and oak leaf.
Spiders

Newly discovered tarantulas may already be in danger

By Andrew Paul

a spider traps a glowing firefly in its web
Spiders

Spiders may be hacking firefly signals to trap dinner

By Laura Baisas

A colorful adult female Joro spider. These arachnids are native to parts of Southeast Asia.
Spiders

No, ‘flying’ venomous spiders are not coming for you this summer

By Laura Baisas

Close-up photos of ReachBot.
Spiders

Daddy long-legs-inspired robot could one day squirm through Martian caves

By Mack DeGeurin

A tarantula with a mostly black body, but bright blue legs and pincers. Chilobrachys natanicharum is the first tarantula species found in Thailand’s mangrove trees. CREDIT: Yuranan Nanthaisong/ZooKeys.
Spiders

Meet the first electric blue tarantula known to science

By Laura Baisas

Dead humback whale on beach from aerial view
Spiders

Dead whales and dinosaur eggs: 7 fascinating images by researchers

By Popular Science Team

A four-legged spider mite sits on a plant.
Spiders

Before spider mites mate, one of them gets their skin removed

By Laura Baisas

These species were discovered in museum collections. They might already be extinct.
Spiders

These species were discovered in museum collections. They might already be extinct.

By Katarina Zimmer / Undark

Siler collingwoodi is a colorful, ant-mimicking spider found in China and Japan.
Spiders

This spider pretends to be an ant, but not well enough to avoid being eaten

By Laura Baisas

An orb weaver spider spins a web in a forest.
Spiders

Spider glue might evolve faster than the spiders themselves

By Laura Baisas

A black widow spider side by side with a brown widow spiders, a fellow species in the same genus, Latrodectus.
Spiders

Black widows battle their even deadlier cousins in a brutal spider war

By Laura Baisas

Pitcher plant with two dead spotted salamanders captured for photography awards
Spiders

13 otherworldly photos that were actually taken on Earth

By Popular Science Team