Why spiders are not insects

Spider Myths "Everything that 'everybody knows' about spiders is wrong! Explore More Myths Next. Spider Myth Resources. Learn More. Become a member Experience even more. A membership pays for itself in 3 visits! Join today Learn more. Contrary to what many people believe, spiders are not insects.

Photo by Jeff Burcher. Browse Categories. Sluggish sea urchins double their pace when they smell danger. Extended sitting time increases risk of depression, anxiety. Amazonian birds are changing shape in response to global warming. Newly discovered antibody may prevent future coronavirus pandemic. Dinosaurs engaged in herd living much earlier than expected.

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Pacific rockfish give clues about the genetic basis of longevity. Rising temperatures are harming bumblebee diet. Volcanic eruptions linked to collapse of Chinese dynasties. News coming your way. Spiders lack the compound eyes that are found on insects. Compound eyes consist of many potentially thousands of lenses grouped in one larger organ. In addition to a pair of compound eyes, insects have up to three simple eyes, which are better at detecting light than shape. Most spiders have eight eyes, although there are species with six or fewer eyes.

Are spiders insects? No, they are not. Spiders belong to a class of animal known as arachnids, whereas insects form a class of their own, known as Insecta. Both arachnids and insects belong to a larger group of animals: the phylum Arthropoda. Animals belonging to this group are known as arthropods. Because of their shared ancestry, both spiders and insects have certain characteristics in common.

However, because the two groups of animals branched off many millions of years ago, they have developed many characteristics of their own. Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey. Garden spider weaving a web.

Black widow spider with egg sacs. Tags: Bohart Museum of Entomology , Explorit Science Center 1 , insects 63 , spiders 23 , why spiders are not insects 1.

I got a lot from it that I could never had thought. Thanks again. That mini spider is so cute. I can already see it scare a bumblebee. It is a very common mistake to put spiders in the insect category. I think it's funny that school groups going to Bohart Museum of Entomology always ask where the spiders are I'm sure there will be no end to that question.

It's also interesting to note that crabs are of the same family and even more interesting that natives of the Amazon, who roast and eat the Giant Bird Eating Spider which are dinner plate-sized, say they taste like.. God help us!