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We Still Have Much To Learn
Jonathan Coddington, a research entomologist for the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, projects that the 38,000 known spiders only constitutes about a fifth of the entire diversity of the species. Furthermore, only a few similarities exist between spiders such as all spiders have eight legs, are hunters, lay eggs, and produce silk and venom. How spiders hunt, reproduce and behave varies tremendously throughout the species. Moreover, with such large species diversity, it's no wonder that we know so little about spiders; in fact, only 5,000 spider species have been studied extensively, according to Mary-Russel Roberson, writer for the Smithsonian National Zoological Park.
Interesting Mating Rituals
Spiders have some of the world's wildest mating rituals in which the female is clearly the dominant species. The black and yellow garden spider, for example, has a captivating mating ritual in which the male often spontaneously dies upon success. The female black and yellow garden spider is extremely aggressive and the male must insert both of its palps, small reproductive appendages found near its mouth, to ensure successful reproduction. If the male inserts its second palp successfully, it instantly dies, leaving the swelled palps inserted in the female and blocking any other males from compromising its chances of reproducing. To make mating easier, the male nursery web spider will catch an insect, preserve it in silk and carry it around until it finds a female. Once found, the male will offer the prey to the female as a distraction. While the female feeds on the gifted prey, the male takes its chance to reproduce.
Spiders and Parenthood
Most spiders are docile, solitary hunters that abandon their young as soon as they hatch. Before this happens, however, the females weave large cocoon-like eggs sac and protect them against predators. Some spiders, such as the long-jawed orb weaver, will carry the egg sac in their jaws until the eggs hatch, while others, such as the woodlouse spider, will keep the egg sac in its retreat where it will remain under constant supervision. Once the eggs hatch, they're on their own. However, some spiders do entertain the idea of parenthood for a few short weeks to give their offspring a better chance at survival. The female wolf spider, for instance, will carry her young on her back after they have hatched between a few days and weeks or until they become too heavy. Most impressively though is the mothercare spider, which actually hunts for and feeds its young until they can get their own food.
Surprising Behavior in Spiders
Spiders have evolved in miraculous ways that influence their behavior. The diving water spider, for instance, creates a bubble of silk and fills it full of air to use as a diving bell, which provides it with oxygen as it hunts underwater. The zebra spider is known for its courtship dance where it moves its abdomen up and down as it waves its front legs; the better the dance, the more likely a female will want to mate, though scientists have not yet pinpointed the female's criteria. The portia spider, one of the only species known to have cannibalistic tendencies, will pluck another spider's web to create musical frequencies. Once the host spider responds to a particular note by turning toward the portia spider, it will only play that note. Playing that one frequency will lure the host spider toward the portia spider until it's close enough for a surprise attack.