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Blogs

Spiders could rule the world (if they were into that sort of thing)

First of all, let’s just take a moment to be thankful that spiders generally don’t have an appetite for consuming humans!

According to the latest issue of The Science Of Nature journal; the global spider community (yes they are a community!) kill an estimated 400-800 million metric tons (fresh weight) of prey per year!

Martin Nyffeler and Klaus Birkhofer have run the numbers and concluded that the mass eating impact of spiders is greater than the world’s whales and seabirds.

A quick Google search shows estimates of the total weight of the world’s population could be around 300 million metrc tons.

In theory, if spiders were to suddenly swap their typical diet of bugs and insects for humans – we would not last long!

So next time you encounter an annoying cockroach or fly, take a moment to appreciate their role in the food chain and leave it up to your local spider to carry out the course of nature.

If you’d like to pour through the data check out the paper here.