Bagheera kiplingi, Central America The world’s only predominantly vegetarian spider sometimes feeds on nectar.
Oriental spiny orb-weaver (Gasteracantha geminata), India and Sri Lanka The tensile strength of silk made by some orb-weavers rivals the strength of steel.
Peacock spider (Maratus volans), Australia The male attracts a mate by displaying his flamboyantly colored flaps as he dances.
Islandiana lewisi, United States First reported in June 2018, it is known to live only in a single cave in Indiana.
Pelican spider (Eriauchenius workmani), Madagascar An ancient, cannibalistic species, its pelican-like mouth parts help it capture other spiders.
Patu digua, Colombia The males are the world’s smallest spiders.
Greenbottle blue tarantula (Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens), Venezuela The men’s basketball team’s mascot, Tarrant is a female greenbottle blue tarantula.
Diving-bell spider (Argyroneta aquatica), Northern and Central Europe It spins an underwater web inflated with tiny bubbles of air that it captures with its hairs at the water’s surface about once a day.
Eyeless huntsman spider (Sinopoda scurion), Laos The planet’s only eyeless huntsman spider evolved in a cave ecosystem.
Mediterranean black widow (Latrodectus tredecimguttatus), Southern Europe Black widows are among the most venomous spiders in the world, but their bites are rarely fatal to humans.
Wolf spider (Hogna carolinensis), North America H. carolinensis became the official state spider of South Carolina in 2000 because of the suggestion of a third-grade student.
Goliath bird-eater (Theraphosa blondi), Northeastern South America Identified by Guinness as the world’s largest spider, it can weigh as much as 6 ounces and have a leg span as long as 12 inches.

By Katie McBride

December 18, 2018

News, Postscript

There's only 46,700?

In the halls of higher education, we know there's only one spider (it’s us!), but globally,  there are more than 46,700 described spider species in about 110 families worldwide, even in the seas around Antarctica.

Here is a small and varied fraction of species of our namesake — all shown with context for size, from the massive Goliath bird-eater to the almost invisible patu digua.