---
title: "What the sources say about the Spitting Spider | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "49 claims from the Spitting Spider profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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# What the sources say about the Spitting Spider (*Scytodes thoracica*)

> 49 claims from the Spitting Spider profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Spitting Spider](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/spitting-spider/)

## Scytodes thoracica. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Scytodes_thoracica/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A tiny house spider | This species is a common house spider of the United States. |
| males typically run 3.5 to 4 millimeters long, and females grow slightly bigger, at 4 to 5.5 millimeters | males typically ranging from 3.5-4 mm in length and females ranging from 4-5.5 mm |
| each divided into a smaller front chamber that stores venom and a larger back one that holds a sticky mucilage | These glands are divided into two parts: a smaller, anterior compartment which stores venom and a larger, posterior compartment which contains a mucilaginous substance |
| The two mix and are fired through the spider's fused chelicerae, fangs that cannot move separately from each other | These spiders produce a gummy substance which is a mix of the two substances and is excreted by their fused chelicerae, which can not be moved separately. (note: "cannot" restates the source's own "can not be moved separately") |
| In the wild a female can live 2 to 4 years and a male 1.5 to 2 | males live 1.5-2 years and females live 2-4 years. Females may be preyed upon during their egg-carrying periods, while males often die of hunger and exhaustion while searching for and courting females. Range lifespan Status: wild 1.5 to 4 years |
| they usually die of hunger, exhaustion, or predation | These spiders can mate multiple times and usually die of hunger, exhaustion, or predation. |
| Spitting spiders see poorly, so they hunt by touch, tapping a target with their raised front legs until it sits centered between them | extremely poor eyesight and therefore walk around with their front legs ... it orients itself towards the prey and slowly taps its front legs until the prey is centered between them (note: "so" restates the source's own "and therefore") |
| Then they fire | It then spits a string of a gluey, venomous substance at the prey |
| the spider lifts its chelicerae, laying the spray down as 5 to 17 overlapping bands | covering it in 5-17 parallel, overlapping bands. The material can travel at a rate of up to 28 m/s and the pattern of the bands is produced as the spider lifts its chelicerae and oscillates its fangs during expulsion. |
| The spider then quickly closes in and tangles its catch further in the drying glue with its first two pairs of legs | The spider then quickly approaches its prey and uses its first and second pairs of legs to further entangle the prey in the drying glue, silk and venom. |
| Once the glue is dry it bites, injecting venom that liquefies the prey's tissues, which it later sucks up | once it is dry, the spider bites its victim, injecting venom to liquify its tissues. It then grooms its first two sets of legs, cleaning any remaining glue, before drawing the prey into its chelicerae using its pedipalps. The spider holds the prey with its third legs and wraps it in silk produced by spinnerets. It then consumes its prey by sucking up the dissolved tissues. |
| Spit First, Bite Second | their attacks usually proceed in the following order: tapping of the front legs, spitting, biting, wrapping, and then feeding |
| Spitting spiders are slow movers on their long, thin legs, so they use the same spray defensively against predators instead of trying to flee | due to their long, thin legs, are slow moving ... Since spitting spiders are slow moving, they use their spitting apparatus against predators, rather than attempting to flee. (note: "so" restates the source's "Since") |
| It is common in the eastern United States and also found in Britain, Sweden and other European countries, and specimens have turned up in Japan and Argentina | This species is commonly found in the eastern United States, as well as in Britain, Sweden and other European countries. Specimens have also been found in Japan and Argentina. |
| It is unclear which populations are native and which were introduced | It is unclear which populations are native and which are introduced in these regions. |
| A House Guest on Four Continents | This species is commonly found in the eastern United States, as well as in Britain, Sweden and other European countries. Specimens have also been found in Japan and Argentina. (note: eastern US (North America), Britain/Sweden (Europe), Japan (Asia), Argentina (South America) = four continents; "house guest" is ADW's "common house spider") |
| Outdoors it lives in temperate forest; indoors it is most often found in dark corners, cellars, cupboards and closets of houses | Spitting spiders are found in temperate forests. When associated with humans, they are most commonly found in dark corners, cellars, cupboards, and closets of houses and other buildings. |
| where it eats moths, flies, other spiders and household bugs, many of them significantly larger than itself | when living indoors, they mostly eat other insects and arthropods, such as moths (Order Lepidoptera), Flies (Order Diptera), other spiders (Order Araneae), and household bugs ( Order Heteroptera ) ... Many of their prey items are significantly larger than these spiders. |
| In Britain it often eats mosquitoes | In Britain, mosquitos (Family Culicidae) are often eaten. |
| Many homeowners pay for pest control to get rid of it | Many home-owners invest in pest-control in order to exterminate these spiders. |
| Not Evaluated | IUCN Red List Not Evaluated |
| Low | this spider is venomous, although its chelicerae, or fangs, are too small to pierce human flesh |
| Temperate forests, and dark corners of houses (cellars, cupboards, closets) | Spitting spiders are found in temperate forests. When associated with humans, they are most commonly found in dark corners, cellars, cupboards, and closets of houses and other buildings. |
| common in the eastern US, also found in Europe, Japan and Argentina | This species is commonly found in the eastern United States, as well as in Britain, Sweden and other European countries. Specimens have also been found in Japan and Argentina. |
| Moths, flies, other spiders and household bugs, many much bigger than itself | they mostly eat other insects and arthropods, such as moths (Order Lepidoptera), Flies (Order Diptera), other spiders (Order Araneae), and household bugs ( Order Heteroptera ) ... Many of their prey items are significantly larger than these spiders. |
| then bites once the glue is dry | once it is dry, the spider bites its victim |
| Animal Diversity Web describes spitting spiders as active nocturnal wanderers, not web-spinners | Scytodes are active nocturnal wanderers, not web-spinners |
| It still makes silk from its spinnerets, though, and wraps its prey in it before feeding | The spider holds the prey with its third legs and wraps it in silk produced by spinnerets. It then consumes its prey by sucking up the dissolved tissues. |
| The spider is venomous, but Animal Diversity Web notes that its chelicerae, or fangs, are too small to pierce human flesh | this spider is venomous, although its chelicerae, or fangs, are too small to pierce human flesh |

## Suter & Stratton (2009). Spitting Performance Parameters and Their Biomechanical Implications in the Spitting Spider, Scytodes thoracica. Journal of Insect Science.

https://doi.org/10.1673/031.009.6201

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| entangles prey from a distance with a zigzag spray of silk, glue and venom | subdue prey by entangling them at a distance with a mixture of silk, glue, and venom (note: genus statement in the paper's abstract; the zigzag is the paper's 'orderly zigzag pattern' for S. thoracica) |
| fired at up to 28.8 meters a second | Ejection velocities were measured as high as 28.8 m/s. |
| Small Spider, Oversized Glands | the domed cephalothorax containing disproportionately large venom glands and the diminutive chelicerae (note: "small" is ADW's 3.5 to 5.5 mm; "oversized" is the paper's "disproportionately large") |
| domed cephalothorax, the fused head-and-chest section, holds disproportionately large venom glands | the domed cephalothorax containing disproportionately large venom glands and the diminutive chelicerae |
| High-speed video has clocked the ejection at up to 28.8 meters a second | Using high-speed videography ... Ejection velocities were measured as high as 28.8 m/s. |
| the fangs oscillate side to side up to 1,700 times a second | the fangs oscillated at frequencies up to 1700 Hz (826.3 ± 102.7 Hz) |
| Zigzag Spray, Timed in Milliseconds | depositing material in an orderly zigzag pattern ( Figure 3 ), all in less than 35 ms (25.2 ± 1.4 ms; Table 1) |
| A full burst typically takes under 30 milliseconds | A full scan (5–57 fang cycles, one upsweep of a chelicera) typically occupied less than 30 ms |
| The spit contracts | The “spit” was contractile. |
| In the two-tenths of a second after ejection, its silk shortens by 40 to 60 percent | During the 0.2 s following ejection, silk shortened by 40–60% |
| Aimed at the two wires of a force sensor, the contracting spit pulled with a peak force of 0.05 to 0.3 millinewtons | When the spider's target was a pair of wires instead of a flat surface, the fibrous spit wrapped around the target and, in the subsequent 0.3 s or so, contracted ( Video 4 ). The contraction exerted a peak aggregate force between 0.05 and 0.3 mN ( Figure 6 ) that was dependent, in part, on the number of strands of fiber connecting the two wires of the force transducer. |
| The spray is a mixture of silk, glue and venom | ejecting from their fangs a mixture of silk, venom, and glue onto potential prey |
| The scientists who filmed it suggest the prey is held physically, by the silk contracting and the glue sticking, rather than by the venom | The literature on the effects of spitting spider spit on their insect prey suggests that the spit, at least in some species, contains venom and that this is responsible for the immobilization of prey ( Millot 1930 ; Nentwig 1985 ). This assertion is contradicted by the recent work of Clements and Li ( 2005 ) in which the spit was found to have no toxic effects on prey when applied externally. Our findings suggest an alternative model for the immobilization of prey: the contractile silken component of the spit, either through a drying process or via some other biophysical mechanism, when combined with the adhesive properties of the liquid in the spit, immobilize the prey item through contraction and adhesion. (note: "rather than" is the paper's "alternative model" to the venom model it cites) |
| an earlier study found the spit had no toxic effect on prey when applied externally | This assertion is contradicted by the recent work of Clements and Li ( 2005 ) in which the spit was found to have no toxic effects on prey when applied externally. |
| Fires a zigzag spray of silk, glue and venom at up to 28.8 meters a second | Ejection velocities were measured as high as 28.8 m/s. |
| Fangs swinging side to side up to 1,700 times a second | the fangs oscillated at frequencies up to 1700 Hz (note: vibe.reason) |
| lay the spit down in an orderly zigzag | depositing material in an orderly zigzag pattern (note: vibe.reason) |
| a whole burst usually over in under 30 milliseconds | A full scan (5–57 fang cycles, one upsweep of a chelicera) typically occupied less than 30 ms (note: vibe.reason) |

## Ariki et al. (2016). Characterization of Three Venom Peptides from the Spitting Spider Scytodes thoracica. PLOS ONE.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0156291

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Researchers have solved the three-dimensional structures of three of its venom peptides, each built around a cystine knot, a motif common to many venom peptides, but could not identify what they target | We present the solution-state NMR structures ... of three venom peptides identified from the spitting spider Scytodes thoracica ... structural characterization reveals that these peptides contain an inhibitor cystine knot motif common to many venom peptides ... we have not been able to determine the target of these Scytodes peptides so we can only state with certainty the channels and receptors that they do not target |
| Injected into crickets and blowflies at the doses tested, the peptides caused no paralysis or death | Injection of high doses of U 3 -Sth1a (350 nmol/g) and U 5 -Sth1a (310 nmol/g) into sheep blowflies did not cause any paralytic or lethal activity. Likewise, injection of doses of up to 6 nmol/g (U 3 -Sth1a and U 3 -Sth1h) and 12 nmol/g (U 5 -Sth1a) into crickets did not cause any paralytic or lethal activity. (note: "at the doses tested" carries the paper's dose limits) |