Why Do Wolf Spiders Make Burrows? And Other Odd Arachnid Adaptations
Eight-Legged Arachnids Can you imagine trying to walk around on eight legs If you can walk like that you’re probably an arachnid All arachnids have eight legs Unlike insects which have six legs arachnids don’t have wings or antennae Spiders and scorpions are well-known arachnids Most arachnids have a body made up of two main segments or parts Daddy longlegs mites and ticks are arachnids that have just one though so small that you can’t even see them without a microscope They’ve adapted to live all over the world In fact there are many living in your home right now Arachnids can be as big as your hand or NO BONES 4 TICK Spiders and other arachnids don’t have bones Instead they have an exoskeleton that keeps them safe This is called a structural adaptation because it has to do with its body An exoskeleton is a hard outer shell that protects the arachnid but lets it move almost like a suit of armor
Arachnids have pretty strange-looking bodies but they have even odder adaptations Read on to learn more SCORPION DADDY LONGLEGS 5
All About Venom Spiders and scorpions are arachnids that make venom When a spider catches a tasty insect the spider bites it and injects venom The venom paralyzes the bug It can’t move or escape so the spider can wrap the bug up in its silk Most spider venoms are only dangerous to the arthropods that spiders eat Just a handful of spiders in the world have venom that can hurt humans of their body The venom is powerful enough to kill their prey However only about 25 of more than 1,200 species of scorpions have venom toxic enough to kill humans Scorpions deliver venom with the stinger on the back 6 VENOMOUS OR POISONOUS Venomous creatures bite sting or stab to do harm while poisonous animals must be touched or eaten to pass on their fatal effects The difference is who is doing the action When spiders bite or scorpions sting they kill their prey That means spiders and scorpions are venomous not poisonous
This is a close-up of a spider’s mouthparts called the chelicerae kuh-LIHS-uh-ree They end in curved fangs that a spider uses to inject its venom 7
