Respiration
Spiders perform aerobic respiration, which means they require oxygen to breathe.
When air enters a spider, it flows through the trachea, which is a long tube that runs from a slit in the exoskeleton through the body. The oxygen diffuses into the blood.
A spider's lungs are called book lungs because they are a series of thin, leaf like structures resembling the pages of a book. Each of the lungs fills with the oxygenated blood and the outside is exposed to air. The book lungs exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide through diffusion.
The spider's normal movment is all that is needed to provide energy to push air in and out.
When air enters a spider, it flows through the trachea, which is a long tube that runs from a slit in the exoskeleton through the body. The oxygen diffuses into the blood.
A spider's lungs are called book lungs because they are a series of thin, leaf like structures resembling the pages of a book. Each of the lungs fills with the oxygenated blood and the outside is exposed to air. The book lungs exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide through diffusion.
The spider's normal movment is all that is needed to provide energy to push air in and out.
Regulation
The Nervous System
The spider's central nervous system is mostly concentrated in the cephalothorax. It is compacted with the brain, which makes it a single mass of nervous tissue called the supraesophageal ganglion.
The suboesophageal ganglion extends from the brain and reaches to the legs. It is similar to the human brain stem and nervous system, but much more primitive in its segmentation. It controls leg movement and provides a pathway for sensory receptors.
Spiders have a limited range of neurological responses. However, they have a strong sense of touch, vibration and proprioceptive input (sensations that lead to body awareness). Spiders have a decent sense of visual and thermal signals, and can detect taste, pheromones and some internal chemical signals.
The Endocrine System
The brain produces neurohormones, like the hypothalamus in humans. These neurohormones are stored in a neurohemal organ. Neurohormones provide the connection between sensory stimuli and chemical responses.
The spider's central nervous system is mostly concentrated in the cephalothorax. It is compacted with the brain, which makes it a single mass of nervous tissue called the supraesophageal ganglion.
The suboesophageal ganglion extends from the brain and reaches to the legs. It is similar to the human brain stem and nervous system, but much more primitive in its segmentation. It controls leg movement and provides a pathway for sensory receptors.
Spiders have a limited range of neurological responses. However, they have a strong sense of touch, vibration and proprioceptive input (sensations that lead to body awareness). Spiders have a decent sense of visual and thermal signals, and can detect taste, pheromones and some internal chemical signals.
The Endocrine System
The brain produces neurohormones, like the hypothalamus in humans. These neurohormones are stored in a neurohemal organ. Neurohormones provide the connection between sensory stimuli and chemical responses.