Arachnids are a class (Arachnida) of chelicerate arthropods studied across zoology, ecology, and evolutionary biology as a diverse group that includes spiders, scorpions, mites, ticks, harvestmen, and related lineages. Research on arachnids focuses on their morphological specializations (e.g., chelicerae, pedipalps, spinnerets in spiders, pectines in scorpions), respiratory structures (book lungs, tracheae), and reproductive and developmental strategies. They serve as key models in venom biochemistry, neurobiology, sensory ecology, and biomechanics, and several groups (notably ticks and mites) are of major importance in medical and agricultural entomology as vectors, parasites, and bioindicators within terrestrial and, to a lesser extent, freshwater ecosystems.
If you're scared of spiders, Halloween certainly doesn't help. People decorate their homes with monstrous-looking fake cobwebs and horror movies depict giant spiders hunting humans or creeping around spooky abandoned houses. ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 31, 2025
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The long-standing mystery around why spider webs sometimes feature "extra touches" known as stabilimenta has been revisited in a new study which suggests that their wave-propagation effects could help spiders locate captured ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 29, 2025
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Scientists at the University of California, Davis, have discovered a new species of trapdoor spider lurking in California's coastal sand dunes. The newly identified Aptostichus ramirezae is a close relative of Aptostichus ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 29, 2025
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A research team including a Keele University scientist have made a breakthrough in monitoring insect populations across the UK using weather radar data. Traditionally used to track rainfall and storms, these radars are now ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 27, 2025
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It's a quiet autumn evening. You're enjoying some TV, when an unscripted movement catches your eye. A large house spider (Tegenaria domestica) is striding across the rug toward you. You make a sudden movement. The spider ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 8, 2025
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A new species of spider was recently discovered near a forested area in Nong Rong, Phanom Thuan, Kanchanaburi, in western Thailand. The spiders were presented to researchers at the Chulalongkorn University Museum of Natural ...
The bite of a black widow spider can initially feel like a sharp stabbing pain, or it can be deceptively subtle, barely registering notice. But as the spider's potent neurotoxin courses through the bloodstream, some unlucky ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 6, 2025
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Researchers peered inside the brains of huntsman and crab spiders using microCT scanners and found that while spiders' brains don't have to be bigger for them to live in groups, social spiders are wired for better memory, ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 18, 2025
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Ecologists have observed a species of nocturnal spider attracting prey to its web using the bioluminescent beacons of already trapped fireflies. This rare example of a predator exploiting its prey's mating signal for its ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 28, 2025
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University of California Berkeley researchers report that females of two jumping spider species prefer red ornamented males of Habronattus americanus, a pattern that drives interspecific mating with a trend toward hybridized ...
