If you are wondering if there are blind spider species out there then you’ve come to the right place because in this article, I’ll give you an in-depth answer to this question and I’ll also answer closely related questions.
Are spiders blind? Most spider species are born with eyes but there are also a few that are born without eyes. Two examples of these blind spider species are named “Adelocosa Anops” (a wolf spider species) and “Sinopoda Scurion” (a huntsman spider species).
The eyesight of spiders differs from species to species
Active spiders need good eyesight
Jumping spiders are a good example of spider species that are active hunters, have exceptional eyesight, and also when compared to other spider species their eyes have the best eyesight. Jumping spiders hunt the whole day and that’s why you’ll see them, for example, crawling on your furniture whilst the sun is up. They need their eyes to successfully hunt and to successfully jump at their prey when the situation is right.
The eyesight of spiders that hunt more passively doesn’t have to be as good
Spiders that love to catch their prey in their webs or that quickly react when they sense a potential prey nearby don’t need to have good eyesight to survive. These spider species like, for example, tarantulas, don’t leave their hunting spots often and therefore can solely rely on their senses to hunt or reproduce.
Spiders that live in dark caves don’t need eyes
Spider species like the Adelocosa Anops don’t need eyes because they live in dark caves. Just like spider species that sit on their webs and rely on their senses, blind spiders like the Adelocosa Anops species also rely on their senses and have adapted very well throughout evolution.
Why are there blind spider species?
Blind spider species mainly live in caves and that’s also why they’ve developed in a way where they don’t need any eyes because in caves it would be too dark for them to see anything anyway. They’ll also completely rely on their senses whilst hunting.
You probably wouldn’t think so but blind spiders are very good hunters as their senses have developed nicely and are very accurate. Any movements close by, they’ll be able to sense because of webbing or change in airflow. They’re just as effective in hunting as other spider species that have poor eyesight and also fully rely on their made web or senses.
Are cave spiders blind?
Spiders that live in caves don’t necessarily have to be blind. It is, however, likely that through evolution their eyesight will become less necessary as they won’t be able to see anything in dark caves anyways. You can be sure though that blind spiders can be found in dark caves.
Because blind spiders pretty much only live in dark caves, human beings are not that likely to encounter one and that is also why blind spider species aren’t that well-known yet.
If you can’t get enough of learning about spiders then I encourage you to check out the “Spiders Category Page” which consists of various articles that give answers to spider-related questions.
Are jumping spiders blind?
Jumping spiders are spider species that have one of the best eyesights out there when compared to other spider species. They need their eyesight to be good because they’ll, as their name implies, jump on their prey to surprise them.
When you take a look at a jumping spider, you’ll see that the spider has eight eyes and that two of those eyes are large and sit on the front of their head. Also, you can be sure that whilst you’re taking a look at the spider that he/she is also checking you out with his/her eight amazing eyes.
Check out the video below if you want to see how the amazing eyes of jumping spiders work.
Are ogre-faced spiders blind?
Ogre-faced spiders do have eyes. When you take a look at an ogre-faced spider you’ll immediately see that it has two eyes sitting on the front of its head. These two eyes provide the spider with a wide view which makes them exceptional hunters.
I gotta say that they look pretty impressive now that I’m checking them out on Google Images. If you want to see for yourself what they look like then you should click here to check out the ogre-faced spiders on Google Images.
Could I blind a spider?
I’ve done research online and was able to find on forums that spiders don’t seem to react at all to, for example, flashes from a photo camera. But you can be sure that if you remove the spider’s eyes in some way that the spider in question will become blind.
It’s pretty much the same as what would happen if we would lose our eyes right? We, human beings, would become blind as well and so will all the other animals on this earth that rely on their eyes to see.
Can I blind a spider using a laser pointer?
It might be possible to blind spiders with a laser pointer. Thankfully though, there isn’t any information online that supports that this is possible as there shouldn’t be a reason to want to blind a spider with a laser pointer in the first place.
Make sure you don’t test this out either it’s cruel and no living thing on earth deserves to potentially become blind because of a pointless experiment.
Can spiders make you blind?
There aren’t any cases online that confirm we could get blind because of getting bitten close to our eye or by getting spider venom in our eye. But it is important to remember that if you get bitten close to your eye by, for example, a black widow spider that your vision will suffer for a while.
If you’ve been bitten close to your eye then you can expect swelling or drooping of the eyelid and, in general, a bite should heal in two to three days. The number of days to heal can differ though from person to person as everybody will react differently to spider bites.
Related questions
What spider species have the most eyes?
As far as I can find online there aren’t any spider species alive that have more than eight eyes. Some websites claim that there are also spiders with 12 eyes but I couldn’t find any proof of this as they did not mention the name of the spider species.
How many eyes do spiders have?
The number of eyes that spiders have varies from species to species. A spider can have between two to eight eyes depending on the species. Some spider species will use them a lot like jumping spiders, others will rely more on their senses.
Are spiders deaf?
Spiders are not deaf but also don’t have ears as we do. They hear by sensing vibrations in the air. These vibrations are sensible through the hairs on their bodies and through small slits that are located all over their bodies.
Conclusion
Now you know that there are spider species out there that live their lives without having any eyesight. You also know though that most of the spider species do have eyes and that certain spider species will use them a lot like jumping spiders and that other spider species will mainly rely on their senses instead of their eyes.
