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Spiders eat more meat than humans

22.03.2017

Scientists have long assumed that spiders are among the most active predators on the planet, and recently they were able to prove it. It turned out that the global population of spiders consumes up to 800 million tons of prey per year.

The order of spiders (Araneae) has more than 45 thousand species, while the average population density can be 131-152 individuals per square meter. Under the most favorable conditions, there are 1000 individuals per square meter.

All spiders are predators, feeding mainly on insects. Scientists have long been interested in the scale of the “catch”: back in the middle of the 2,2th century, naturalist William Bristowe calculated that 1012x2,2 spiders live in England and Wales, which can kill 1014xXNUMX insects annually. A number of colleagues disagreed with him, so for more accurate conclusions, it was necessary to change the data collection methodology.

The new study was conducted by specialists from the universities of Basel (Switzerland) and Lund (Sweden). The permanent biomass of the global populations of spiders and insects has been calculated based on data from open sources. Based on the estimated daily rate of food consumption by spiders and taking into account the dynamics of the reproduction of insect populations in certain territories, scientists were able to draw a big picture.

25 million tons of permanent biomass of spiders annually destroys from 400 to 800 million tons of insects. Such a significant difference in consumption is explained by weather conditions: on rainy days, insects hide, and spiders are less likely to catch prey.

Commenting on the data obtained, experts offer a comparison that allows us to assess the scale of spider predation. So, all seabirds annually consume about 70 million tons of food, for cetaceans this figure is at the level of 280-500 million tons of food, and even all people on the planet are content with 400 million tons of meat and fish per year.

What's more, the new study only looked at the volume of insect consumption by spiders, but these animals often prey on reptiles, birds, small mammals, and their own kind. Thus, although they are not at the top of the food chain, they are among the most active predators on Earth.

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