Few people can admire spiders. These eight-legged creatures often cause only fear, disgust, or open hostility. However, in them you can find aesthetics. In this article, we have prepared descriptions and photos of the most beautiful spiders in the world.
Briefly about spiders
Spiders are the most famous representatives of arthropods. For centuries, they have been accompanying us, living in attics, in basements and remote corners of houses. But these are not the only places where spiders meet. Over 400 million years of their existence on Earth, they have spread almost everywhere, avoiding only areas that are hidden under the ice all year round.
Most spiders are terrestrial animals. They live in forest litter, in crevices of stones, shallow burrows. Some of them hide in shrubs or in the crowns of trees, and one species - silverfish - learned to live under water.
Only a few spiders are herbivores. Among them are Kipling bagir, which uses plant nectar and special formations on the leaves of tropical acacia. The rest are predators, feeding on everything from small invertebrates to rodents and small birds. They catch their prey, waiting in ambush, or setting up a trap for it. Many of them use cobwebs as trapping networks, which is difficult to break from. Next we will talk about the most beautiful spiders. Where do they live? What do they look like?
The most beautiful spiders in the world
From the sight of these creatures, many feel uneasy. The body of the spiders consists of the cephalothorax and abdomen, to which eight dexterous and very fast paws are attached. On the cephalothorax, they have from two to eight eyes located in front and on the sides.
It is difficult to say which spider is the most beautiful, because they are all very different from each other. Their appearance is very different and depends on the way of life and habitat. Some of them prefer to disguise themselves as an environment in order to be invisible to prey and enemies. With various outgrowths and patterns, they can imitate branches, leaves, soil, and even bird droppings, as the passenger bus looks like. Other spiders have a bright color, differing from the general background. They usually use this technique to confuse the enemy or warn about their toxicity.
The arsenal of spiders has many interesting features. They can be shaggy and naked, colorful or nondescript, and some even resemble other animals. Below is a list of the most beautiful spiders on the planet:
- peacock spider;
- eight-point crab spider;
- mirror spider;
- black erezus;
- Argiope Brunnich;
- nephilus spider;
- metal wood tarantula;
- the misuzana is clubfoot.
Peacock spider
Maratus volans, or peacock spider, lives in eastern Australia. Like other representatives of the race, he has excellent eyesight and the ability to jump a distance that is 50 times the size of his body. Due to the bright color, “peacocks” are called the most beautiful spiders. Their females are gray and inconspicuous, but the males are decorated with stripes and spots of various colors. There are about 40 species in the genus Maratus. All of them have an extraordinary individual color.
The pattern on the abdomen serves only to attract a partner. To interest the lady, the spider raises its front paws and abdomen, showing the outfit and performing the mating dance. After lulling the vigilance of the female, he proceeds to mating. If she doesn’t like the dance, then she’ll just eat the betrothed, leaving him no chance of having offspring.
Eight Point Crab Spider
This representative of the side-walker spiders has a bright yellow color. There are four small black dots on the cephalothorax, another seven black spots are located on the elongated and slightly flat abdomen. Long legs are also colored yellow, and the last segment is black or transparent (in males).
Bokhodov live in Southeast Asia, on the islands of Java and Sumatra. Their females are much larger. In size, they reach about two centimeters, while males grow to only 4 mm. Spiders need a defining color to disguise themselves as a flower, sitting on which predators wait for wasps and other insects.
Mirror spider
Mirror view belongs to the genus Thwaitesia, distributed in the tropical regions of the planet. Very little is known about him, for example, that he is found in Australia and Singapore. No wonder it is called one of the most beautiful spiders. The photo shows how unusually colored his abdomen. It is as if covered with a mosaic of mirrors, cast with all possible colors. The size of the mosaic segments may vary. From time to time, they expand and contract, although the mechanism and cause of such a process remains a mystery.
Black erezus
Erezus, or thick-headed, can be called the most beautiful spider that lives in our area. It is distributed from southern and central Europe all the way to Central Asia. Its cephalothorax is covered with thick black villi with white tips. The abdomen is bright red with four black dots, and the legs are black with white transverse stripes.
The spider lives in the steppes and semi-deserts, where it lives in cracked soil, under stones and in holes left by other animals. He spends most of his time at the shelter, leaving him only to find a partner. To mate safely for his life, the male introduces the female into a state of catalepsy. After that, nothing threatens his health, and he spends about 12 months with his partner in a hole. Eresus females live 2 years, males die already at the age of one year.
Agriope Brunnich
One of the most beautiful spiders can be safely attributed to the agriope. Because of its striking appearance, it is also called a wasp spider. Females of this species are painted in yellow-black stripes and patterns. They have long legs and an elongated oval abdomen, very similar to a hornet. Male agriopes have a rounded body and a nondescript gray-brown color. Meeting with them can result in a painful bite, from which swelling and slight inflammation occur.
Spiders live in sunny meadows and forest edges from southern Europe to East Asia. They are found in Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Russia, China, Korea and the countries of North Africa. You can recognize the agriope by the characteristic circular web through which the zigzag strip passes.
Nephil Orb
On the Internet, nephils are better known as banana spiders. They live in warmer regions of the Earth and are found in Australia, New Guinea, Japan, Africa and nearby islands, in the south of the USA and in South America.
These are large spiders with a body up to 4 centimeters long. Together with the legs, their size reaches 10-12 centimeters. They have an elongated oval dark orange abdomen, long and thin legs, painted in black and yellow stripes. Banana spiders weave the world's largest hunting nets, which even birds and bats fall into. Their poison is able to kill a small animal. For a person, a spider bite is usually not fatal, but causes pain and blisters.
Metal tree tarantula
The metallic woody appearance represents one of the most beautiful tarantula spiders. His body and limbs are covered with thick villi and appear velvet. The metal tarantula grows up to 6-7 centimeters long, and with legs can reach 15-20 centimeters. It is painted in dark blue with a gray pattern on the body, bright yellow spots are present on the bends of the legs.
The spider lives exclusively in India, and is popular with us as an exotic pet. He lives in nests, which he equips in the hollows of old trees and in crowns. His bite is the most unpleasant among all tarantulas. It is accompanied by cramping and severe pain, which lasts several weeks.
