One More Reason To Dislike Spiders

Their hearing! Spiders can’t “hear” exactly, but they can sense and respond to vibrations in the air over relatively long distances. Until recently, scientists believed they were only sensitive to sounds from a few inches away. However, the Sci-News website reports that researchers at Cornell University have found that jumping spiders (Phidippus audax) can pick up low-frequency sounds from up to 10 feet away.

The spiders apparently sense vibrations through the hairs on their forelegs, which produce a response in acoustically sensitive neurons. Physically probing a single hair produced the same type of response. The jumping spiders are most sensitive to frequencies produced by the wingbeats of wasps, one of their natural enemies. Scientists plan to examine the brains of fishing spiders and wolf spiders for similar abilities.