Paragraph on “How do spiders catch their food?” complete paragraph for Class 9, Class 10, Class 11 and Class 12

How do spiders catch their food?

All spiders are carnivorous, in other words, they catch and eat other animals. Many spiders build webs in which they trap their food. The web is made from a sticky, silken substance which the spider spins from silk glands within its body. Once the spider has completed the web, it lies patiently in wait for some small creatures such as an insect to become trapped on the sticky strands. As the victim struggles to free itself, its movements are felt by the spider which quickly scuttles across and delivers a bite. The spider’s fangs contain a poison which paralyses the prey, then, if the spider does not want to eat straight away, it wraps the insect in a coating of silk and stores it for another time.

Although many spiders catch their food in this way, not all spiders build webs, and those that do not must find some other way of hunting their prey. The trapdoor spider (left) builds a burrow which it lines with silk, and then covers with a lid. Within the burrow it lies completely hidden, and when a small, unsuspecting animal passes by, the spider springs from the burrow, drags the animal in and quickly overpowers it. Bird-eating spiders (above opposite) often hide in bark of tropical trees and eat young fledgling birds, although most spiders are too small to eat birds. The wolf spider is a more active hunter, running after small insects and then jumping on them in order to overpower them.