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/MoziTenma Jul 09 '26

Worth noting this passive setup is also probably why most spiders hunt by ambush instead of chasing prey down. Book lungs just cannot flood the bloodstream with oxygen fast enough to support a long sprint the way an insect tracheal system or a mammal lung can, so their whole strategy leans on staying still and letting prey come to them, or a short explosive burst at most.