Spiders are small arachnids with a wide range of meals. What spiders eat depends on the spider species, its size, and where it lives.
Most spiders eat insects. Many also catch other small animals when they can.
Spiders usually eat living prey they can subdue, then turn into liquid food before swallowing.
Their menu changes a lot from one species to another. Some spiders wait in a spider web, while others hunt on foot, ambush prey, or even choose unusual food.
Main Foods in a Spider’s Diet
Most spiders eat small animals. Insects make up the biggest part of the diet.
The exact mix depends on the spider species. Prey is usually small, fresh, and easy to overpower.
Common Insect Prey
Web builders often catch flying insects such as flies, moths, and mosquitoes. Active hunters go after crawling prey like grasshoppers, beetles, and crickets.
Many spiderlings eat tiny insects, since they need smaller prey that matches their size.
People often ask whether spiders eat moths. Moths are a common meal for many web-building species.
Larger and Unusual Prey
Some larger spiders catch prey that seems surprising. Big hunters, including the huntsman spider, may eat lizards and frogs when the chance appears.
A strong black widow can also take prey that is larger than you might expect for its size.
Do Spiders Eat Other Spiders?
Some spiders eat other spiders in certain cases. A few species specialize in this, and others do it when food is scarce or another spider is easy to catch.
Some spider species even show strong prey preferences that make spider-on-spider hunting more common than you might think.
How Different Spiders Catch and Eat Prey
How do spiders hunt? The answer changes by species.
Web builders, active hunters, and ambush predators all use different tools to trap prey, stop it fast, then feed on the liquid inside.
Web Traps and Flying Insects
Web-building spiders use silk to catch food. A spider web acts as a silent trap for flying insects, especially flies, moths, and mosquitoes.
Cellar spiders use long, loose webs that tangle prey quickly. When an insect struggles, the spider moves in, wraps it, and injects venom to finish the job.
Active Hunters and Ambush Tactics
Some spiders do not wait in a web. Jumping spiders, wolf spiders, fishing spiders, crab spiders, and the huntsman spider use movement, speed, or camouflage to catch prey as ambush predators.
Jumping spiders rely on sharp vision and fast leaps. Wolf spiders run prey down on the ground, while crab spiders hide in flowers or leaves and strike when an insect comes close.
How Spiders Consume Liquid Food
Spiders do not chew like you do. They use their chelicerae to grip prey, inject venom, and add digestive fluids that break the meal down outside the body.
After that, they suck up the liquid food. That is why spiders need prey they can soften first.
Solid plant matter does not fit this feeding style very well.
What Changes Their Menu
Spider diets change with habitat, body size, and species. A house spider may eat tiny flying insects near lights.
Larger spiders can handle bigger prey and more aggressive hunting.
Diet by Habitat, Size, and Species
House spiders and household spiders eat the pests they find indoors, such as gnats, flies, and moths. In contrast, a tarantula or other large mygalomorph may take bigger insects and, in some cases, small vertebrates if the opportunity is right.
Species matters a lot too. Some spiders are generalists, while others are picky and focus on one kind of prey or one hunting method.
How Often They Feed
How often spiders eat depends on food supply and body temperature. Spiders are opportunistic, so they may eat when prey is available.
They can go days or even weeks without another meal. A well-fed spider can last a long time between meals.
The Rare Plant-Eating Exception
Most spiders do not eat plants, since they rely on liquid food and cannot digest cellulose well.
One famous exception is Bagheera kiplingi, a jumping spider that mainly eats Beltian bodies and some nectar.
That kind of diet is rare.
Spiders such as myrmarachne are better known for mimicking ants than for eating plants.
