Wait a Monday Minute: Can Spiders Breathe?

Today, we went to the swamp to take pictures. We got a few.

Spider choice

I saw a spider. Then, all of a sudden, I wondered if spiders could breathe. I mean, there are spiders all over the wetlands where my partner and I were stomping around, but I never see any spiders swimming. If I see a spider in the water, that was not a spider choice, right?

Spiders have lungs

I asked google. She told me that they, in fact have lungs.

Cephalothorax

Then she also told me that they’re not insects because, get this: they have fewer body parts than insect. They don’t have a separate head and body, they have one out together, called a cephalothorax.

Chest + head = cephalothorax

So if someone has a really thick neck and their head is a part of their chest cavity (their thorax) you could insult them by saying they have a cephalothorax. Here’s how I know I’m not the funny one.