How long spiders live vary depending on the type of spider. Most spiders live for about 1 to 2 years, although some have lived up to 20 years while in captivity.
Female spiders have a longer lifespan compared to the male spiders. Weirdly, some female spiders feed on the male after mating as you will see later on.
Male spiders reach maturity when they are about 2 years and die after mating. Some die an obligatory death from the mating process.
Average Lifespan of a Spider
The table below show the average lifespan for different types of spiders.
| Spider Species | Average Lifespan |
|---|---|
| House Spiders | 1-2 years |
| Wolf Spiders | 1-2 years |
| Garden Spiders | 1-2 years |
| Black Widow Spiders | 2-3 years |
| Banana Spiders | 1 year |
| Cellar Spiders | 2-3 years |
| Jumping Spiders | 6 months – 3 years |
With that summary out of the way, let’s dive into each of these spiders, shall we?
How Long Do Jumping Spiders Live?
Jumping spiders can live for 6 months to 3 years.
The oldest recorded jumping spider lived for 3 years. Female jumping spiders live longer as compared to males.
Jumping spiders are not social and cannibalize each other. The females will sometimes eat the male spiders. [1]
They hunt using their excellent vision to spot prey from a distance and then sneak up, pouncing on the prey.
Jumping spiders can jump up to a distance that is thirty times the length of their body. Like all spiders, they also hatch from eggs and look like miniature adults. The female attends to her eggs until they hatch and disperse.
How Long Do Black Widow Spiders Live?
Black widow spiders can live for about 3 years.
Although venomous, their bites are not fatal. Black widow spiders easily cohabitate with humans because they avoid contact with them.
They tend to build their webs close to darker, undisturbed places such as basements, hence it is common to share your house with black widow spiders without ever finding out.
Male black widow spiders are much smaller than the females, but both genders grow up not longer than an inch.
Like the jumping spiders, the female black widow spider kills the male after mating. Watch how this happens in this fantastic video by Deep Look.
How Long Do House Spiders Live?
House spiders can live for 1-2 years, the female house spiders live longer than the male spiders.
These spiders are generally non-aggressive. They are likely to end up being killed from the force of a blast of water which breaks through their exoskeleton and smashing their organs.
How Long Do Wolf Spiders Live?
Wolf Spiders are the most common species of spiders in the world. Male wolf spiders live for about 12 months whereas females live a little longer.
Wolf spiders are not web builders. Instead, they hunt by running after their prey.
When they live with humans in their homes, they are active only at night and spend most of their day hiding.
Unlike many spider species, their young ones do not disperse immediately. They stay close by, on their mothers’ backs until they can search food on their own.
Garden Spider Lifespan
The garden spider lives for an average of 1 year. Females normally die in the first hard frost after mating. However, if the temperatures are favorable, they may live a little longer.
Male garden spiders die after mating and this makes their populations unstable.
These spiders produce venom, which is harmless to humans but helps immobilize prey such as bees, flies and other flying insects caught in the web.
The web of the garden spider has an X shaped pattern called a stabilimentum to alert birds so that they don’t fly through and destroy the web. The garden spider may eat and remake its web each night.
Related article: How long do crickets live?
Lifespan of a Banana Spider
Only one new generation of banana spiders is born annually and the average lifespan is 1 year.
Female banana spiders live one month after the molt, whereas males survive for two to three weeks after.
The reproductive window for a female banana spider is small. Before molting for the last time, the female stops eating and repairing her web.
It is during this time when a mature male moves in and becomes friendly while waiting for the molt to occur. After molting, the female is open to sexual advances for 48 hours.
The male spider therefore needs to act fast since it is the female’s arousal that prevents her from eating the male spider. After this occurrence, the female spins two or more egg sacs, each holding hundreds of eggs onto the side of a tree.
Banana spider preys on small to medium sized flying insects such as mosquitos, grasshoppers, butterflies, leaf-footed bugs, bees, butterflies and flies.
Related: How long do ants live?
Cellar Spiders
Cellar spiders have a lifespan of 2-3 years. They take one year to mature, and live for about two years as adult spiders.
These spider species construct irregular webs in high humid and moist areas like in sheds, homes and warehouses.
They are found in dark and damp places such as window corners, basements, crawlspaces and garages.
Cellar Spiders prefer hanging down in their webs while waiting for prey. They majorly feed on insects and other spiders.
When bothered, this spider will repeatedly pulse its body to make its entire web shake. These vibrations help to entrap insects that have approached the web and become the spider’s next meal.
Unlike other species which expand their webs then make new ones, cellar spiders continue to layer additional, new webs on top of their old ones.
How Long Do Spiders Live Without Food?
Large species tend to live longer without food than smaller species, but generally, they can go anywhere from 30- 60 days without food.
Spiders only eat when hungry or whenever they catch prey. They have no daily eating routine.
Being carnivorous creatures, they prefer to eat live or recently killed prey. Common spider foods include flies, mosquitos, gnats, ants and moths. They also feed on the insects caught in their webs such as cockroaches, crickets and even spiders of different species. [2]
Access to water impacts the amount of time a spider can live without food. If they have water, they can survive for longer periods of time.
In cases of food shortages, female spiders can eat their babies after they have hatched.
Final Thoughts
Love them, dislike them or fear them, spiders are incredibly fascinating and diverse creatures as well have seen. We hope you learnt something new about these species.
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