13 reasons spiders are cool, not scary

1. The VAST majority of spiders are not harmful to humans.

2. Bolas spiders don’t build a typical web, but instead hunt with a glob of sticky glue that they dangle from a silk thread. During the day, these tiny, harmless spiders camouflage themselves by mimicking bird poop.

3. Spiders are voracious predators when it comes to insects — they eat a variety of things that people don’t like: mosquitoes, flies, agricultural pests…pretty much anything.

via GIPHY

4. This jumping spider from Kenya eats female mosquitoes that have fed on blood.

5. Some spiders mimic other animals, like this species that wears a Halloween-appropriate ant costume.

6. Some spiders are good moms -- Wolf spider females carry their babies on their back.

7. This spider common to North Florida spits sticky glue onto its prey to subdue it.

8. Spiders smell with organs on their feet.

9. Spiders hear with hairs on their legs.

10. Males trying to impress a female will sometimes offer her gifts, often a web-wrapped insect. Others, like this guy, dance for their lady.

11. One spider in Morocco projects itself across sand like a cartwheel.

12. Some spider silk is stronger than steel.

13. Baby spiders are adorable.