How long can spiders live without food?
Spiders are arachnids of the largest order. There are more than 45,000 species of spiders, all predators.
They are found in almost all parts of the world, except for the polar regions and oceans.
Spiders have eight legs and two body parts; cephalothorax and abdomen. They also have jaws called chelicerae, with fang-like protrusions at the tip.
The fact that spiders are everywhere, in our homes, schools, bathrooms, toilets and workplaces, sometimes makes us wonder if and how they eat.
What do spiders eat?
Knowing what spiders eat is a good way to answer the question: How long can spiders live without food? It is well known that spiders eat freshly killed prey.
They do not eat old, dead or rotten food. Their diet consists mainly of insects such as, but not limited to, flies, moths, crickets, grasshoppers and mosquitoes.
Some large spider species feed on worms, snails and small vertebrates such as frogs, lizards, birds and bats.
Some species belonging to the group of jumping spiders obtain most of their nutrition from the leaves of the acacia tree, which is found mainly in Central America; Other herbivorous spiders get their nutrition from plant sap, leaf tissue, nectar, honeydew, seeds and pollen, while other species feed on spiders, shocking right?
The diet of spiders depends largely on their size and species.
A larger spider eats and reserves more food than a smaller spider.
How do you eat spiders?
Spiders survive on liquid food because they have no teeth.
The general process that spiders use to consume their prey is to break down the body with digestive enzymes, which they either inflate or inject into their prey.
They then suck out the liquefied and liquefied flesh of their prey.
How long can spiders live without food?
How long can spiders live without food? This is a question that arises out of curiosity. To answer this question, you need to look at the size and type of spiders in question.
Some spiders, such as tarantulas, deliberately avoid eating. Spiders can live so long without food because of their ability to regulate their metabolism.
When food is scarce, spiders can slow down their metabolism depending on the availability of food. Some spiders lead sedentary lives and use very little energy.
They hunt with little effort, carefully ambushing their prey without expending too much energy.
Additionally, most spider species are carnivores; Therefore, they get more energy from their meat diet than animals that are herbivores and only eat plants.
Although spiders can live for long periods without food, they can only survive without water for so long.
Many species of spiders die out if they go without water for several months. For spiders, finding water is more important than finding food.
Some species of spiders and how long they can live without food
Black widow spiders :
Black widow spiders can go almost a year without eating because they can reduce their metabolism to low levels depending on the amount of food available.
> Wolf spiders
Adult wolf spiders can only survive for three weeks without food. Without water, they only last about a week.
> Jumping spiders
Adult jumping spiders can survive for a month without food, while they can survive for about a week without water.
Young jumping spiders can only survive for five days without food and less than five days without water.
>Brown recluse spider
An adult brown recluse spider can live for about one to two years if food is scarce.
>American house spiders
American house spiders can survive four to eight weeks without food. They can survive for so long without food because they eat their web, which in turn provides nutrients such as proteins.
Typically, American house spiders have a habit of maintaining a food supply.
>Daddy long legged spiders
Daddy longlegs spiders can regulate their metabolism depending on the availability of food. Papa crane spiders are sensitive to desiccation, so they can survive an average of two months without food, but not that long without water.
>Chilean Rostarantula
An adult Chilean Rostarantula can survive for about one to two years without food, especially if water is available despite a lack of prey.
>The Mexican red-knee tarantula
When food is scarce, Mexican red-knee tarantulas can survive for more than two years without food.
On average, Mexican red-knee tarantulas can survive for five months, provided they had continuous water prior to the water shortage period.
> Baby spider
Young and adult spiders store food and water in their bodies to varying degrees. Adult spiders are better at storing food and water than young spiders, which allows them to survive longer than young spiders.
In general, young spiders or hatchlings can survive a month without food and a week without water.
Spiders that can survive the longest without food
When food and water are scarce, the following spiders can survive the longest:
> Tarantulas
Many tarantulas can survive for up to two and a half years without eating.
Tarantulas can do this because they are larger compared to other spiders and therefore store food and water in larger quantities than medium-sized spiders. Some tarantulas are known to deliberately refuse to eat.
Although the reason for this can be difficult to explain, it is thought that their refusal to eat may be due to them being in a long molt phase or simply being anxious.
But often that’s just what they do. The Grammostola rosea spider is a species of tarantula that is known to go on hunger strike for a very long time.
> Web-forming spiders
Web-building spiders can also survive for long periods of time by eating the webs they produce to obtain the nutrition needed to survive.
This means that they always have access to food to fall back on when needed.
> Conclusion
How long spiders can survive without food is an interesting question, and the answer largely depends on the type of spider, how well they can regulate their metabolism and size.
Large spiders can survive longer than smaller spiders because they can store large amounts of food and water.
Although spiders can survive for long periods without food, the same cannot be said for water. Most spiders will not survive long without water.
