The spider

Introduction

Web and silk

The body

Sex and reproduction

The jaws and poison

Spider enemies

Blood circulation, the lungs and moulting

Literature and acknowledgements

The nerve system, sensory organs and legs

The spiders have circulating blood in their bodies. The colourless blood, called hemolymph, transports nutrients, hormones, oxygen and cells. The blood also serves another purpose. It is used locally to raise the blood pressure during moulting (shedding of old skin) and stretching the legs.

In mammals haemoglobin molecules, present in the red blood cells, transport oxygen. The spider uses a more complicated protein called hemocyanin. Unlike hemoglobin, hemocyanin is not stored in a cell but flows freely in the blood of a spider. Hemocyanin is a protein that is made up of 24 sub-units with a molecular mass of 1.704.000 compared to the molecular mass of oxygen, which is only 32. Human haemoglobin is made up of 4 sub-units with a molecular mass on 64.500. Haemoglobin is a molecular disc, made of nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen and an iron atom at the centre. The oxidized iron gives the molecule its characteristic red colour. Haemocyanin also contains nitrogen, carbon and hydrogen but has a copper atom at the centre instead of an iron atom. The oxidized copper gives the molecule a blue colour. Hemocyanin binds oxygen but only releases it after it receives the right chemical signal. For every of the 24 sub-units there is special chemical signal. Depending on the need for oxygen a cell can give more or less signals. Beside these signals the release of oxygen is also controlled by temperature. Every sub-unit has a specific temperature optimum.

In mammals the uptake of oxygen in the blood and the release of carbon dioxide from the blood take place in the lungs. Spiders use other organs. Above the spinners there is a slit that can be opened and closed. Long small tubes run from this slit into the body. These tubes are called trachea. The gasses are exchanged with the blood by diffusion.
Besides trachea many spiders also have book lungs. These are hollow leaf-like structures through which the blood flows. These book lungs hang in an open space that is connected to a tube. The other side of the tube is in open contact with the air. The entrance is located below the abdomen.
There are spiders with either book lungs or trachea but most spiders have both.

Primitive spiders have only two pairs of book lungs. Modern spiders have developed trachea systems. Most of them still possess one pair of book lungs.
The trachea supply oxygen faster than book lungs. The modern spider uses these two systems together. This allows for the utilization of more oxygen and gives the advantage of quicker and longer reactions than the primitive spiders which have only book lungs.
Fast running and jumping spiders have a good developed trachea system. The small spiders of the family Symphyltognathidae are exceptional. They do not posses book lungs but have a well developed and very well performing trachea system.

The size of the heart depends on the size of the developed trachea system. Spiders with a good developed system do not need a large heart because the pumping capacity can be smaller. Less blood is needed to supply the organ with oxygen.

The colour of the spider becomes darker before the changing of its skin. Enzymes dissolve the layer between the skin and the rest of the body. The new skin begins to form below the old one. It is extremely folded because it has to be larger than the old coat. The nerves stay connected to the sensory organs on her old skin so that she is not deprived of essential signals from the sensory organs on her legs. Just before shedding the old skin the spider hangs itself upside down with a thread. After several minutes the abdomen contracts to around 70% of it original size. The blood is pumped to her head raising the pressure from 20 kPa to approximately 40 kPa (0.4 atm). The skin starts tearing at her jaws and the crack enlarges to the abdomen. If the skin is loose from the head-breast part (prosoma) the blood pressure is raised in the abdomen. When the skin has become completely loose the spider falls out of her old skin. These old skins are the "dead" spiders you can see hanging to wires and small branches.

Spiders can often be seen with one or more missing legs. After moulting these lost legs regenerate. After the first change of skin, newly formed legs are smaller than the original legs. After the second moulting these differences in length are hardly observable.

The new skin hardens.
Gymnastics by bending and streching the legs to prevent the joints from hardening