Despite the anxiety these eight-legged predators can instill in humans, they are excellent creatures to have around since they can help keep other troublesome insects and pests out. But do they eat worms?
While most spiders eat insects, some larger spiders eat worms, snails, and even tiny vertebrates such as frogs, lizards, birds, and bats.
The earthworm is a tiny scavenger with an average lifespan of 1-2 years. Earthworms are preyed upon by various creatures, which is why they spend so much time burrowing into and around the dirt.
The answer to the question is yes, spiders eat worms, but their main food sources are mosquitoes, flies, moths, and occasionally even other spiders.
Do Spiders Eat Earthworms?
Yes, earthworm species of worms are eaten by spiders.
Earthworm predation by spiders is definitely a rare occurrence; just eight araneomorph (like huntsman spiders and wandering spiders) and three mygalomorph (like funnel web spiders) families of spiders are likely to do it because of their size and fangs.
Earthworms are believed to be commonly used as prey by these large spiders in the wild.
Earthworms are a common prey item for a variety of theraphosid (tarantula) species in captivity as a pet spider.
Earthworm predation by small spiders has also been documented but it’s a rarer sight due to the logistic difficulties of consuming this meal for the small species. Larger species are likely to have much more success.
Earthworms are likely to provide an abundant, easy-to-capture, ready source of protein and other nutritional components to spiders.
Do Wolf Spiders Eat Worms?
Technically, yes. But in most cases, no, if we’re talking earthworms.
That is because a wolf spider would only really come into contact with one if it had emerged from the ground during a torrential downpour.
The wolf spider would most likely be hiding in shelter, hoping for better weather but if they came into contact and needed the food, such behavior would definitely occur.
If we are talking meal worms, the answer is yes.
Most invertebrates in their size range are likely to be eaten by wolf spiders. They might even consume a baby mouse that has just been born or even small frogs.
They are only interested in chasing things that are the correct size, not too small to grapple with but not too large to break free or retaliate.
Wolf spiders are also one of the spiders that consume insects, worms, and just about any other living thing that is small enough to grab and eat, as you might think.
Small lizards, frogs, and even very small birds are all prey for them.
Wolf spiders are one of the most common kinds seen in homes.
Cockroaches, beetles, flies, crickets, grasshoppers, locusts, earwigs, and ants are just a few of the insects they devour.
Depending on where they live, their nutrition will change. They are, nevertheless, carnivorous, as are practically all other species.
The wolf gets its name from the way it hunts. They are extremely fast, and they employ this speed to pursue their prey.
Do Tarantulas Eat Earthworms?
Yes, your tarantula will eat earthworms, which contain enough proteins and fat.
However, earthworms should not be your tarantula’s primary source of nutrition and you shouldn’t frequently feed them worms as they need more nutrient diversity in their diet.
A spiders diet consists also of:
- crickets
- roaches
- locusts
and other insects can be added for diversity.
While earthworms might be considered ‘fast food’ for the tarantula in terms of availability and ease of procurement, they are not the most favored choice for many tarantula owners due to their awful odor.
But because they contain sixty to seventy percent protein, earthworms can be an excellent source of nourishment for your tarantulas.
The majority of the earthworm’s body is made up of fat.
This is appropriate for your tarantula’s diet, as they have 300 to 500 digestive enzymes adequate for liquifying and breaking down all the nutrients present in an earthworm at every step of the digestive process. Even giant earthworms (but you should have a giant tarantula to make this a perfect match!)
Which Worm Species Do Spiders Like to Eat?
Spiderlings eat little insects like midges and fruitflies at first, but as they grow older, they eat larger insects like wasps, moths, earthworms, and blowflies.
Numerous generalist predator species, such as many ground beetle species Coleoptera: Carabidae that commonly feed on earthworms, are known to prey on earthworms.
However, comparable behavior among spiders (Araneae) is significantly less extensively described.
A study of spiders that eat earthworms discovered 44 naturally occurring predation occurrences.
Earthworm prey was devoured by spiders from 14 families in the wild, while two additional families consumed earthworm prey in captivity.
In 18 different nations, earthworm predation by spiders has been documented in temperate, subtropical, and tropical climates by tropical spiders.
Earthworm predation is less widespread in temperate climates. New genomic analyses of the diet composition of lycosid and linyphiid spider species suggest that earthworms are not a common meal.
Summary
Overall a spiders do eat worms and earthworms, but it’s probably not their favored meal in a spiders feeding habits.
Spiders eat:
- other spiders
- moths
- butterflies
- grasshoppers
- worms
- locusts
- live insects
These are among the bugs that spiders devour.
Some spider spieces are large enough to devour small prey like:
- small mammals
- reptiles
- birds
- Other small vertebrates and vertebrate prey
House spiders can usually only eat bugs that have made it into the house like:
- Fleas
- ants
- flies
- roaches
- and earwigs
…are the most common prey for these spiders and the smaller spider like jumping spiders.
Want to know more about what other animals/insects eat worms? Follow our articles like “do trout eat worms?”, “do rabbits eat worms?” and “do crappie eat worms?”
