In an unusual evolutionary twist, local stick spiders have come up with an almost identical repertoire of color morphs in multiple locations.

This discovery closes a 170-million-year gap in the fossil record.

Scientists explore why male peacock spiders are so colorful. 

Arachnids harbor a plentiful array of molecules that target mammalian pain receptors.

A cornucopia of toxins in the animal kingdom could provide inspiration for novel painkillers, but so far, effective drugs have proven elusive.
 

Prey stick to orb-weaver spider webs because their waxy outer layers mesh with spider silk to form a matrix glue.

Inspired by the Sorting Hat from the Harry Potter series, scientists aptly dubbed this pointy spider Eriovixia gryffindori, after the fictional yet formidable wizard Godric Gryffindor.   

Trap-jaw spiders have the fastest, most powerful bite of any arachnid, scientists show. 

A study of black widow spiders suggests that the arachnids leave traces of their own genetic material and DNA from prey in their sticky webs.