The Ark In Space

10 Amazing Recently Discovered Facts about Spiders

Friday, 14 November 2025

Spiders have been studied for centuries. In Middle English the name for spider was coppe and they built coppewebs, a word still retained in the language as cobweb. Yet despite our familiarity with these enigmatic air-breathing arthropods, scientists are still discovering new facts about them – and not necessarily about newly discovered species either. Here are ten amazing recently discovered facts about spiders.

10. Electrostatic Webs that Suck in Prey

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In 2013 students at the University of California, Berkeley, discovered that the web of the garden spider (or common cross spider) is attracted to charged objects. When a charged object is held next to a garden spider web, its threads arc towards each other. Many insects produce a charge when flying – the honeybee, for example, can generate a charge of up to 200 volts as it moves its wings. So, if one gets close to a web, the threads arc, effectively sucking the hapless creature in to the web.

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10 Amazing Recently Discovered Facts about Spiders

Friday, 14 November 2025

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