If a spider is unable to hide or escape, it has other ways to protect itself from predators.

Spiders now go on the offense for survival.

There are three main adaptations that spiders use to protect themselves: venom, fangs and hairs.

Venom

Nearly all of the 105 spider families have venom glands, which produce the venom used by the spider. Most spider venom is harmless to humans.

The venom glands are located in the cephalothorax of the spider.

In most spiders, the venom is a nerve toxin, so it affects the nervous system of the predator.

The venom is injected into the prey by the spider's fangs. This paralyzes the prey.

Then the spider takes its fangs out and places its mouth over the holes, made by the fangs, and forces saliva into the holes in the prey.

This saliva causes the insides of the prey to turn to liquid, which the spider can then suck out of the prey like a kind of slush.

A foreign cousin of the Black Widow, the Red Back of Australia (Latrodectus hasselti), is notorious for its dangerous venom.

Fangs

Besides using their fangs to inject poison as a chemical defense, a spider's fangs are also used as physical weapons for defense.

The fangs are located on the tips of the spider's jaws, which are called chelicerae. Spiders use their fangs to fight off or "spear" their prey.

Wolf spiders are well known for their use of their fangs for defense. In fact, the scientific name for their spider family, Lycosa, means "to tear like a wolf."

Click here to watch a Wolf Spider in action!

Hairs!

Hairs! That's right! Some species of spiders (the Mygalomorphs) will attack their enemies with hair!

How is this done? The spider rubs its abdomen with its back two legs. This scrapes off tiny special hairs that are coated with poison. A cloud of hairs floats up to the predator and makes its eyes and nose itch and water.

Sometimes the hairs can even blind the predator for a short time ... time enough for the spider to escape! Watch the video of Susie the Tarantula "kicking" her hairs to fend off predators!