ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Insects and Spiders

Updated on September 18, 2015

What is the difference between insects and spiders..?


Many people think spiders are insects. Perhaps this is because at first glance spiders do look like some insects, especially when you disturb them and they scuttle away to shelter. If we look more closely, however, we see that there are many differences between them.

Spiders belong to a group of animals called the Arachnida, which also includes tiny creatures called mites, scorpions, and much larger animals called king crabs (although they are not really true crabs at all). Spiders have a body with eight legs, whereas all adult insects have six legs. In addition, an insect`s body is clearly divided into three parts – head, thorax and abdomen – whereas a spider`s is divided into two parts. Another important difference is that no spider can fly, but of course, most insects have wings and indeed the power of flight has been one of the major reasons for their great success. If you spend a little time studying insects and spiders, you will soon find that there are many other differences between them, not only in their appearance, but also in their ways of life.

How do spiders catch their food..?

All spiders are carnivorous, in other words, they catch and eat other animals. Many spiders build webs in which they trap their food. The web is made from a sticky, silken substance which the spider spins from silk glands within its body. Once the spider has completed the web, it lies patiently in wait for some small creatures such as an insect to become trapped on the sticky strands. As the victim struggles to free itself, its movements are felt by the spider which quickly scuttles across and delivers a bite. The spider`s fangs contain a poison which paralyses the prey, then, if the spider does not want to eat straight away, it wraps the insect in a coating of silk and stores it for another time.

Although many spiders catch their food in this way, not all spiders build webs, and those that do not must find some other way of hunting their prey. The trapdoor spider builds a burrow which it lines with silk, and then covers with a lid. Within the burrow it lies completely hidden, and when a small, unsuspecting animal passes by, the spider springs from the burrow, drags the animal in and quickly overpowers it. Bird eating spiders often hide in bark of tropical tress and eat young fledgling birds, although most spiders are too small to eat birds. The wolf spider is a more active hunter, running after small insects and then jumping on them in order to overpower them.

How does the water spider breathe...?

The water spider is a rarity among spiders, for it builds its web under water, attached to pond plants. The web or ‘bell’ is made of very finely woven silk strands which are waterproof. Even though it lives under water, the water spider must breathe air, like all spiders. So, once the bell is complete, the water spider climbs to the surface of the pond and traps a bubble of air on the tiny hairs of its body. It takes this bubble back down to the bell and once inside, releases it. After several trips the bell is full of air, and the spider then has an air-filled nest in which it can live.

Water spiders do not use their webs to catch food as many spiders do. Instead, they hunt tiny water creatures called water lice and take them back to their bell to eat them in safety. Water spiders are found in ponds all over Europe and although not native, are now also to be seen in parts of the United States of America.

How can insects walk on water..?

Some insects, like the one shown above, can actually walk in the surface of the water. They do this by spreading their weight very carefully as they move. You can see that little dents occur in the surface where the ends of their legs touch it. This means that the surface of the water has been ‘stretched’ but not broken by the weight of the insect.

We can see from this that water acts as though it has a skin. Water, like all other matter is made up of tiny particles called molecules. Water molecules pull or attract one another. If the insect pushes on the water with less force than the attraction of the molecules it can walk across the surface. However, if it is too heavy or too clumsy, it will break the surface and must swim or sink. We call this effect surface tension.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)