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Spider Sounds of Silence

Scientists recently translated a spider’s web into music. It is adequately eery for the subject matter and would fit nicely into a Halloween movie full of spiders coming out of unwanted places at all hours of the day and night. Despite the creepiness of the sound produced, I am excited about the further research being done in the awesome world of arachnids. This inspired me to think about all of the spider sounds of silence.

Spider Sounds

When I think of sound, I immediately think of what travels through my ear and bangs on my eardrum. The reality though is that sound is not created by my ear or eardrum. Sound is simply vibrations that my ear and eardrum detect. They don’t actually “hear” it though. What I hear is just my brain’s interpretation of the electric signals sent by my interpreting ears.

While spiders don’t have ears, they have other methods of detecting vibrations. Their legs are sensitive to vibrations on their web. They have small hairs that can also detect vibrations. I am not quite sure what it is like to be a spider, but it seems as though they are just as likely to think it weird that humans have flesh satellites on their head to hear as we think it weird to hear through our leg hairs.

Spider Sound Sensitivity

Not only do spiders have a different set of tools for hearing, but they are quite adept at interpreting faint vibrations. Thanks to the mimic spider and other clues, we know that spiders can distinguish among:

  • a breeze disturbing their web
  • a leaf or debris getting caught in their web
  • a runner plowing face first into their web (this happens to me frequently)
  • a desired insect landing ready to be liquified for eating
  • a spider trying to encroach on his prey catching materials
Exotic and colorful spider of the genus Micrathena from Chiapas, Mexico

Silencing the Spiders

Ok, you are probably not as excited about spiders as I am. You probably don’t find them cute. You just want to know how to stop the screams from the family every time one pops up and scares them. Lucky for you, we have all the tools for keeping spiders in their place (which is out of your place) such as:

Whatever your situation, from storage units covered in webs, to wolf spiders on the hunt in the bathroom and basement, we have a custom solution ready to put in place for you. Reach out to Rove Pest Control to get in touch with our Spider Specialists today.