Spiders are diverse arachnids, playing an important role in many ecosystems as predators that help control insect populations. Despite their predatory nature, spiders themselves are a food source for a wide array of other animals.
Avian and Mammalian Predators
Birds are frequent predators of spiders, with many insectivorous species regularly consuming them. Birds such as wrens, sparrows, robins, and bluebirds are known to snatch spiders from webs, foliage, or the ground. Some birds, like blue tits and great tits, even feed spiders to their chicks, as spiders provide beneficial nutrients like taurine.
Mammals also prey on spiders, particularly smaller species. Shrews and bats commonly include spiders in their diets. Monkeys, while not relying on spiders as a primary food source, will consume them as an opportunistic snack.
Insect and Invertebrate Hunters
A significant number of insects and other invertebrates are specialized spider hunters. Spider wasps, including tarantula hawks and mud daubers, are well-known for their unique hunting strategies. These wasps paralyze spiders with a sting and then drag them to a burrow or mud cell where an egg is laid on the immobilized spider; the wasp larva then feeds on the spider.
Ant colonies can overwhelm and consume spiders, especially larger groups targeting a single arachnid. Praying mantises are ambush predators that use their raptorial forelegs to capture and consume spiders that come within striking distance. Assassin bugs also employ ambush tactics, often camouflaging themselves to surprise and subdue spiders.
Centipedes are active nocturnal predators that hunt spiders and other small arthropods. They use their venomous forcipules to paralyze prey, often lassoing them with their legs before consuming them. Scorpions, also arachnids, hunt spiders using their pincers to capture and crush prey and their stingers to inject neurotoxic venom for paralysis.
Reptilian, Amphibian, and Aquatic Eaters
Reptiles frequently include spiders in their diets, acting as opportunistic predators. Lizards such as geckos, chameleons, anoles, and skinks actively hunt spiders, often snatching them from surfaces or foliage. Some lizards, like alligator lizards, are known to consume black widow spiders and their egg sacs.
Snakes, particularly smaller species like blind snakes and garter snakes, may also consume spiders. Young reptiles often include spiders in their diet as they grow. Amphibians like frogs and toads are generalist carnivores that readily eat spiders, using their sticky tongues to capture prey.
Aquatic environments also host spider predators. Fish species such as trout, archerfish, and mosquitofish will consume spiders that live on or near the water’s surface, or those that accidentally fall in. Spiders adapted to aquatic life are particularly susceptible to predation by fish.
Spiders That Hunt Spiders
Some spider species specialize in preying on other spiders, a behavior known as araneophagy. Certain jumping spiders, such as those in the Portia genus, employ sophisticated hunting techniques, sometimes mimicking trapped insects on a web to lure and then ambush the web’s owner. Other araneophagic spiders include some types of crab spiders and lynx spiders, which actively hunt down other spiders in their environment. This highlights that spiders can be prey for their own kind, adding to the complex dynamics of their ecosystems.