List of endangered spiders facts for kids

An endangered species is a type of animal or plant that is at risk of disappearing forever. This can happen because of human activities, changes in the weather, or even changes in how many predators or prey animals there are. Governments often officially list these species as endangered.

A spider is a fascinating creature with two main body parts: a cephalothorax (which is like its head and chest combined) and an abdomen (its belly). Spiders also have eight legs! All spiders are predators, meaning they hunt other creatures for food. Most spiders eat insects, but some bigger ones can even catch small reptiles, birds, or amphibians. For a long time, tiny creatures like spiders and insects weren't really thought of when people talked about endangered species. It wasn't until 1994 that most invertebrates (animals without backbones) were seen as being just as vulnerable as other animals. Because of this, only a few spider species are officially listed as threatened or endangered, and many are simply called "undetermined."

Spiders in Danger: What are Endangered Spiders?

Many groups agree on which spiders are endangered or threatened. Here are a few examples of spiders that need our help.

Meet the Spruce-fir Moss Spider

The spruce-fir moss spider is listed as endangered in the United States. This tiny spider looks a bit like a miniature tarantula, but it's only about 1.4 to 3.8 millimeters long! That's smaller than a grain of rice. It lives in high-up forests in the mountains of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. This spider is very sensitive to drying out, so it needs to live in damp, shady places, like moss. It builds a tube-shaped web between moss and a rock or a fir tree, which is how it got its name.

The Kauaʻi Cave Wolf Spider: A Blind Cave Dweller

The Kauaʻi cave wolf spider is super rare! It's found only on the island of Kauai in Hawaii. As of 2006, this spider was found in just one cave, and only a small number of them (16 to 28 individuals) had ever been seen. Compared to other spiders, this one doesn't have many babies, and because it lives in a cave, it doesn't have much food. This spider is one of the biggest cave-dwelling creatures known, growing up to 8 centimeters! Since it lives its whole life in the dark, it doesn't need to see and is completely eyeless.

Katipō: New Zealand's Rare Night-Stinger

The katipō spider is related to the famous Australian redback and other widow spiders. You can find this spider in New Zealand, living in burrows or trees. Its name means "night-stinger" in the native Māori language. This spider is endangered because its home is disappearing, and also because other non-native spiders have been introduced. Experts believe there are only a few thousand of these spiders left in the wild.

What is a Vulnerable Species?

A vulnerable species is one that the International Union for Conservation of Nature believes is likely to become endangered. This happens if the things threatening its survival don't get better.

The Dolloff Cave Spider: A California Mystery

While not officially endangered, the Dolloff cave spider is considered vulnerable to extinction. This spider is bigger than the spruce-fir moss spider, measuring about 10 to 15 millimeters. It builds large, round webs at the entrance of caves. As of 2001, this spider has only been found in caves located in Santa Cruz, California.

The Great Raft Spider: Europe's Water Lover

The great raft spider is a species whose numbers are going down, and it's listed as vulnerable. It lives across Europe, but it's hard to know exactly how many there are because there aren't many old records. In the United Kingdom, there are only three known groups of these spiders. One group is stable, one is in trouble, and the other hasn't been fully checked. This spider lives near water, and its need for wet places might be why its population is shrinking. Since we don't have much information from the past, it's hard to know exactly how much their numbers have dropped.

See also

• Endangered arthropods
• List of U.S. federally endangered arthropods
• List of extinct arachnids