Spider Hunting Strategies

Stabbing, crushing, spitting and seducing are some of the more unusual, gruesome and clever ways spiders catch and kill their prey.

Though these predators are best known for ensnaring their food in sticky webs and paralyzing them with venom, this is only one of many ways the world's 40,000 or so known spider species catch a meal.

Spiders are found everywhere from rain forests to deserts, and can even be found in tide pools along the coast. What they eat, and how they capture it, is just as varied as where they live. Spiders catch and consume insects, other spiders and even small animals including snakes and birds.

The above fishing spider waits near water, typically with their front legs resting on the surface to detect the vibrations of potential prey. Once an animal comes close enough, fishing spiders strike with their fangs.

Net-casting spiders, below, hang upside down on a scaffold of silk, spin fuzzy webs they hold tight between two of their front legs and wait for insects. If a flying insect comes within reach, net-casting spiders will sweep their net toward the prey, snagging it out of the air. If an insect passes underneath them, the spiders drop down and spread a net over the victim.

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