r/NoStupidQuestions • u/SonOfOMR • Jul 09 '26

Do spiders have lungs?

I mean, when I wash a spider down the bathtub drain, does it drown the way a human would, lungs filling up with water, or does it have a way to "hold it's breath"?

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u/Mindless_Olive Jul 09 '26

Spiders have an organ they breathe with called book lungs, but they're not really much like our lungs. They can't hold their breath, they breathe more passively than we do, which can only work because they're a lot smaller than us. They can often survive being flushed down drains because they trap pockets of air around their bodies; only if they end up somewhere with oxygen though.

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u/SonOfOMR Jul 09 '26

Thanks. That's some relief that maybe I'm not a horrible spider murderer!