Have you just seen a spider with 6 legs, and do you want to know if there are any spider species out there that only have 6 legs? Then you’ve come to the right article which will explain the answer to this question thoroughly and after fully answering the question I’ll answer questions that are closely related so make sure you keep on reading.
Are there any spider species out there that only have 6 legs? Spiders are always born with 8 legs so there are no spider species out there that are born with 6 legs. The spider can however lose legs during its lifetime which means that you can indeed encounter spiders that have less than 8 legs.
In what ways can spiders lose their legs?
There are various ways spiders can lose their legs throughout their lives. Examples of ways where spiders can lose their legs are:
- During a fight with a common enemy.
- By getting stuck between various objects.
- During their molting phase.
During a fight
Throughout a spider’s life, it will run into other spider species or other insects where defending themselves will be essential. Also, defending their territory is a daily task for the spider as other spiders would love to take over other amazing hunting spots. During the fight, it will be all about getting the upper hand over your opponent and a great way of achieving this is by taking away one or more of its legs as the spider’s maneuvering skills will decrease every time it loses a leg.
By getting stuck
For some spider species actively hunting by walking around is essential as some spider species don’t rely on their webs to catch prey. Getting the spider’s legs stuck between, for example, rocks or other objects is therefore not an uncommon occurrence in life. What’s awesome about several spider species though, is that they can self amputate (also known as “Autotomy”) their legs if the situation asks for it which is an awesome surviving mechanism. They can even amputate their legs if they are, for example, stung by a wasp in their leg. The spider will then amputate its leg before the paralyzing sting venom can travel to other body parts of the spider.
During molting
Spiders that need to molt to grow can get one or more of their legs trapped during a molt. This will occasionally happen whenever the humidity where the spider is molting is too low. Thankfully, the spider can also amputate its legs during a molt so that it can at all times finish its molt.
Below you can check out a video of a Tarantula molting.
How many legs does a spider have?
Every spider species that live in this world is born with 8 legs. It can however happen that spiders are forced to amputate their legs during, for example, a fight which would result in them having fewer legs.
Many people also think that spiders are insects but they are not. Insects are always born with 6 legs which makes it easy to distinguish them from one another.
Why are legs essential for spiders?
There are different reasons why the spider needs its legs during its lifetime and they are indeed essential for the spider to have. Reasons that stand out are moving to its desired destination, running in case of danger, catching its prey, keeping a good grip on its prey, and jumping on its prey.
All in all, you can see that legs are indeed essential for each spider species that are out there. Missing a leg can potentially mean the difference between life and death for the spider.
Will a spider die if he or she loses a leg?
Depending on how many and which legs it has lost, it can happen that the spider will die. This doesn’t mean though that the spider will die from bleeding out as the spider has muscles that will close off the blood supply whenever a leg gets amputated.
The defining factor though will be how many legs it has lost so far and which ones it has lost. If the spider, for example, has lost all four of its right legs you can be quite sure that it will have a hard time surviving as holding up its body can be quite the challenge already. If however, the spider has only lost one leg or if the spider still has three left legs and three right legs left, it will have a much better chance to survive.
Does every spider species autotomize its leg when in need?
There are spider species out there that are more likely to amputate one or more of their legs when the situation asks for it and there are also spider species out there that will never autotomize their legs whatever the situation might be.
This means that the spider species that never autotomize their legs stand a greater chance of dying whenever they happen to get stuck between objects.
Can a spider’s leg grow back after a new molt?
This can indeed happen sometimes but if this does happen, the unfortunate aspect for the spider will be that its new leg will be shorter and thinner and will therefore be less useful as compared to its other legs that haven’t been amputated.
All in all, though, a pretty awesome skill to have if you’d ask me.
Are there any alternative situations where you might think the spider has more than 8 legs?
Many people often think that a spider that they’re seeing has 10 legs. This occurs because every spider has 8 legs and also has pedipalps sitting on the top of their heads. These pedipalps can sometimes be mistaken for legs.
It is its pedipalps
Every spider species has a pair of appendages on its front side which are called pedipalps (also called feeling feet). Even though the pedipalps are less long than the spider’s legs, they can sometimes be miss-interpreted as legs of the spider which could give the illusion that some spider species have 10 legs instead of 8. The pedipalps of the spider mainly have sensory uses and spider males also have their mating organs located in their pedipalps. As you can see in the image below, the spider’s pedipalps are located on the front of its head.
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.
Is a 6-legged spider harmful?
A spider that has lost, for example, two legs during its lifetime and now has 6 legs will not make it more harmful. It will more likely make it less harmful as the spider will have a harder time surviving with six legs than its original 8.
So, if you happen to encounter a 6-legged spider that you know is poisonous then you can be sure that encountering an 8-legged spider of the same species would be more dangerous.
Are 6 legged spiders poisonous?
A spider that has lost two legs during its lifetime and now has 6 legs won’t be less or more poisonous to insects or human beings as losing a leg won’t make the spider more dangerous, it might potentially only look more dangerous to some people.
It’s also obvious that we think that they’re more dangerous when they’ve 6 legs as everything unusual to us could mean danger.
Can Huntsman spiders only have 6 legs?
Just like any other spider species, Huntsman spiders are born with 8 legs and can throughout their lifetime lose legs by getting entangled in fights, by getting stuck, or during molting. So, this does mean that you can indeed encounter Huntsman spiders with 6 legs.
If you do run into one with 6 legs then potentially give him/her some food like flies if you can. The spider will forever be grateful.
Can a Brown Recluse spider have 6 legs?
They can have 6 legs but aren’t born with 6 legs. Every spider species is born with 8 legs as they belong to the group: Arthropods (non-insects). Whenever you see a Brown Recluse spider with 6 legs then you can be sure that it has lost two during its lifetime.
Also, Brown Recluse spiders will become less dangerous to humans when they’ve lost a few of their legs as they won’t be able to maneuver like they were used to.
Can a Wolf spider have 6 legs?
If a Wolf spider has 6 legs you can be sure that it has lost 2 legs during its life as Wolf spiders are born with 8 legs. It must have gotten into many fights throughout its life and was able to push through to survive.
All in all, they’re great at surviving rough conditions and will come out on top often when getting in fights with one of their common enemies.
Can a Black Widow spider have 6 legs?
There are situations possible where Black Widow spiders will only have 6 legs left as they’ve probably lost two of them during fights, when it’s got its legs stuck, or when it had problems during its molt.
They will potentially autotomize one or more of their legs during the molting phase if they get stuck in their old molt as not amputating their legs could then result in certain death.
Can a House spider have 6 legs?
It can occur that House spiders have 6 legs. Most of the time legs of spiders are lost during fights with other animals. They’ll also amputate their leg when they’re bitten by a venomous animal in their leg. Just before the venom can reach the spider’s body it will be amputated.
It’s not that common to encounter spiders that have 6 legs though as they can also have 7, 5, or 4 left.
Can a Cellar spider have 6 legs?
Cellar spiders are all born with 8 legs and can further into their lives end up with 6 legs whenever they’ve encountered some heavy fights or unfortunate situations. These kinds of spiders love to sit in their webs though. So, you can imagine that they can easily survive with 6 legs.
If you happen to see one though with 6 legs then potentially offer him/her some prey to feed on. You’ll probably make its life a lot more pleasant by doing this.
Can white spiders have 6 legs?
White spiders can just like any other spider species lose legs during their lifetime. You can be sure though that the spider did not start with 6 legs but was born with 8. These legs were probably lost during a fight with a common enemy, during their molting phase, or when they happen to get stuck.
Also, white spiders don’t become more dangerous when they’ve 6 legs. So, you don’t have to be afraid of that.
Can green spiders have 6 legs?
Green spiders can have 6 legs sometimes. This means that they’ve lost two of their legs during their lifetime as every green spider will start with 8 legs. Make sure you handle the spider carefully if you encounter one as humans are normally also common enemies to these spiders.
Also, you can encounter green spiders that have fewer than 6 legs and still manage to survive. An impressive determination to survive if you’d ask me.
What is a 6 legged spider called?
Spiders that have 6 legs are often called a “gladiator spider”. This name is given to these spiders because they most likely had to fight a lot during their lifetime as two legs were lost during battle or unfortunate situations.
The time of kings and gladiators is already far behind us but for spiders, it is still a common phenomenon.
Why do Tarantulas have 10 legs?
Tarantulas are just like any other spider species born with 8 legs. The number of legs is often mistaken to be 10 because the pedipalps of the spider can look like legs sometimes. You’ll also see tarantulas that have less than 8 legs as they’ve lost one or more throughout their lifetime.
So, you can be sure that you haven’t spotted a new spider species as there aren’t any spider species out there that are born with more than 8 legs.
Can a spider have 4 legs?
A spider can have 4 legs. This does mean that they’ve had a pretty rough life though as they’ve lost 4 legs throughout their lifetime. Also, they can still survive very well with 4 legs but make sure you are a bit more gentle with these spiders as their life has already been rough enough.
Check out the video below which will confirm that spiders with 4 legs do exist!
What spider has more than 8 legs?
There aren’t any spider species out there that have more than 8 legs. Spiders can however be mistaken to have 10 legs as the spider’s pedipalps (that are located at the front of the spider’s head) can sometimes look like two extra legs.
So, just like humans can’t have more than two legs, spiders can’t have more than 8 either.
Related questions
What insect has 6 legs and looks like a spider?
Spider beetles are insects that come the closest to looking like a spider but they are indeed insects. Also, you may encounter a creature with 6 legs that you think might be a spider-looking insect when it’s a spider that was born with 8 legs and lost 2 legs.
What is an insect with 6 legs?
Insects are a subdivision of arthropods that have the following characteristics: They have a head, thorax, abdomen, and an antenna located on their heads which spiders do not have. All insects are born with 6 legs and examples of species are cockroaches, butterflies, bees, moths, and beetles.
Is an insect that has 8 legs always a spider?
An insect that has 8 legs doesn’t have to be a spider to belong to the species non-insect arthropods. Non-insect arthropods are insects with no antenna and all non-insect arthropods have 8 legs which means that not every arthropod can be identified as a spider. It can also be a scorpion.
Conclusion
Now you know that spider species are always born with 8 legs and that they can lose legs throughout their lifetime when they happen to get involved in unfortunate situations. Spotting a spider with 6 legs or less is therefore a true possibility and I recommend you’d be a little bit more gentle with these guys as they’ve probably had a pretty rough life behind them already.