do spiders sleep?

[dandy_warhol]

for those of us too lazy to use google:

use this thread to ask the questions that keep you awake at night, or pop into your head for no reason, or you are just plain curious about. if you have the answer please feel free to share your knowledge!

so anybody know about the sleep habits of spiders?

[Budgie]

so anybody know about the sleep habits of spiders?

I don't know... I've got Brown Recluse spiders in my basement and garage. The old fiddlebacks flee, but they can do some harm.

[Wulf9]

If you hear them snoring, they are sleeping.

[wahday]

My son asked this question about a month ago, so I knew just where to go...

"It really depends on how you define "sleep". All animals have some sort of 'circadian' rhythm - a daily activity/inactivity pattern. Some are active during the day - diurnal - others are active at night time - nocturnal/crepuscular. The periods of inactivity are characterised by withdrawal (to a shelter perhaps) and a drop in metabolic rate.

This applies to spiders as well, although no studies have been done to measure the period of time spent in such a state or at what times different species do it. It seems that spiders with good eyesight that rely on vision to capture prey may tend to be more active in daylight hours, whereas others that rely on snares/webs could be active at other times, but this is not necessarily the case for all species.

In cold climates, spiders "overwinter", which means that they have a kind of hibernation period. Overwintering involves a drop in metabolic rate, where the spiders bring their legs into their body and remain huddled in a shelter during the coldest months of the year.

This ability to shut down for a long period of time indicates that they might be able to do it for shorter periods in their everyday cycle, which could be seen as a form of sleep or rest."

Information from Foelix, R.F. 1996. Biology of Spiders. Oxford Thieme. Arachnology section, Australian Museum

[Tom R]

Let's see, in humans with two eyes it's 40 winks. So spiders with eight, 160 winks, and for house flies.......?

My son asked this question about a month ago, so I knew just where to go...

"It really depends on how you define "sleep". All animals have some sort of 'circadian' rhythm - a daily activity/inactivity pattern. Some are active during the day - diurnal - others are active at night time - nocturnal/crepuscular. The periods of inactivity are characterised by withdrawal (to a shelter perhaps) and a drop in metabolic rate.

This applies to spiders as well, although no studies have been done to measure the period of time spent in such a state or at what times different species do it. It seems that spiders with good eyesight that rely on vision to capture prey may tend to be more active in daylight hours, whereas others that rely on snares/webs could be active at other times, but this is not necessarily the case for all species.

In cold climates, spiders "overwinter", which means that they have a kind of hibernation period. Overwintering involves a drop in metabolic rate, where the spiders bring their legs into their body and remain huddled in a shelter during the coldest months of the year.

This ability to shut down for a long period of time indicates that they might be able to do it for shorter periods in their everyday cycle, which could be seen as a form of sleep or rest."

Information from Foelix, R.F. 1996. Biology of Spiders. Oxford Thieme. Arachnology section, Australian Museum

[dandy_warhol]

so either your son is VERY advanced or i'm still hanging on to my child-like innocence.

so i guess what you're saying is they don't take their bo-bo and their favorite pillow and curl up in a corner of their web.

interesting.

thanks for the info!!

[Gedunker]

If you hear them snoring, they are sleeping.

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