We’ve all seen Spiderman in action. He appears extremely strong. But does this translate to real spiders or is Spiderman just another superhero from a comic book? How strong ARE spiders? Keep reading and you’ll find out.
In general, spiders are extremely strong. Jumping spiders for example, are able to grip the equivalent of 170 times their own body weight. Neither spider or tarantulas have muscles so their strength really depends on how much pressure they can build up in their legs, and how much weight their legs can bear before breaking, in a similar way to how hydraulics work.
So yes, spiders are extremely strong, relatively speaking. That’s the very basic answer, now let’s take a look at that in a bit more depth. Are all spiders as incredible as that?
Jumping Spiders
Going back to Spiderman. If he were real, he’d be the equivalent to a jumping spider. Meaning he could use his hands and feet to hold 170 times his own weight.
Put another way, it would be the same as a 150 pound person holding TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND pounds. Not lifting but continuously holding up for a minute or so.
Are ALL Spiders Strong?
Well, yes. Take the Darwins Bark orb weaver for example. Comparatively speaking, they’re as strong as an Olympic powerlifter being able to bench press 400-600 pounds.
And according to the Guinness World Records, the strongest spider is the Californian trap-door spider Bothriocyrtum californicum which has been proved to be able to resist a force 38 times its own weight attempting to open its trap-door.
Tarantulas
This wouldn’t be Spider Advisor if we didn’t mention tarantulas, would it.
Whilst tarantulas ARE strong, they can only move about 8 times their own bodyweight so what they move may be seen as impressive but gram for gram, they are not as strong as a lot of smaller spiders.
How Fast are Spiders?
If you’ve ever come across one (they are plentiful in the UK), you won’t be surprised to learn that the giant house spider is the fastest spider known to man and can run at 1mph.
However, if a spider were to be human sized as in our previous examples, they wouldn’t be able to run at all.
Spiders do not have bones; their internal organs are kept inside purely by skin so gravity would prevent them from even being able to stand, let alone run.
Is Spider Silk Strong?
We mentioned in a previous article how silk is five times stronger than steel.
This is measured in terms of size. Using the same diameter, spider silk is indeed 5 times stronger.
This video demonstrates that fact wonderfully.
How Strong are Spider Webs?
In the wild, webs have been known to catch small animals like bats and birds without breaking.
One of the reasons that spider webs are designed so intricately is because it actually increases the durability of the web.
The designs allow for greater elasticity and therefore more force needs to be applied to damage it.
However, they do not hold the record for strongest natural material, they come just short of Limpet teeth which took spider silk’s top spot a few years back.
How Much Can A Spider Web Hold
Spider webs can hold a good amount of weight for their size.
Spider webs are designed for catching their prey and the smallest of webs is able to hold several insects before any damage is done.
In fact, scientists in Italy and the UK now believe that one day parachutes may be made out of spider silk. After drinking water containing nanotubes, the silk spiders produce naturally has made this a distinct possibility.
Is Spider Silk Stronger Than Kevlar?
Kevlar is a military grade material which is used in the production of bullet proof vests.
The silk of an average spider has a tensile strength of 1.1GPa whilst Kevlar’s tensile strength is 3.0GPa.
That being said, the Darwin’s Bark Spider has recently proved that its own silk is 10 times as strong as Kevlar!
Right now, thousands of spider silks have not yet been thoroughly tested, with less than 1% of species being extensively researched on.
Why Is Spider Silk So Strong?
So we now know that spiders themselves are strong, but why is their silk so strong too?
It’s all about the proteins. The proteins in this case are called spidroins and they are made naturally in a spiders silk glands.
They work by helping form the thick paste that is eventually spun into fibres and spider silk. The addition of these proteins make the silk much stronger.
They also increase elasticity, which helps keep the web from taking damage.
Could a Spider Web Stop a Jet?
This seems to be one of the fun science questions that everyone wants to know the answer to. It has also been surprisingly heavily researched.
It’s said if you were to fly a plane into a 2 inch in diameter spider web, you wouldn’t be able to help but notice the plane had seemingly stopped in mid-air.
If a spider web were ten times thicker than it is now, even a human would have difficulty in walking through it.
Are spiders stronger than ants?
Unfortunately, the immense strength of a spider comes no-where close to an ant, who is able to lift up to 5,000 times its own body weight. Wow, even my jaw dropped at that!
And on that note, we hope you’ve learnt something today; spiders really are strong little creatures! Until next time, stay spidery!