Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. There are over 45,000 species of spiders in existence, but ...

Scientists may have uncovered why spiders are so creepy-crawly—they have more legs than they need, a new study says. After collecting thousands of female spiders in the wild, scientists found that ...

Male nursery web spiders (Pisaura mirabilis) use the sense of smell in their legs to find mates. Researchers at the University of Greifswald used an electron microscope to discover "olfactory hairs" ...

When a spider crawled into the corner of a research lab at Rice University in Houston, Texas and curled up to die, it surely never imagined that it would become the inspiration for researchers’ mad ...

Spiders' ancestors evolved to use their appendages in very weird ways. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. There seems to be no ideal ...

Eleanor has an undergraduate degree in zoology from the University of Reading and a master’s in wildlife documentary production from the University of Salford.View full profile Eleanor has an ...

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below." Hydraulic pressure controls spider leg movements, allowing the arachnids to straighten and curl their ...

Giant huntsman spiders are the largest member of the huntsman spider family Sparassidae with a leg span stretching up to 12 inches across — roughly the size of a dinner plate. When you purchase ...

Spider legs seem to have minds of their own. According to findings published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, each leg functions as a semi-independent “computer,” with sensors that read ...