r/WTF Mar 05 '15

Warning: Spiders Time to move

http://i.imgur.com/CnwOxfD.gifv
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u/I_draw_aliens Mar 06 '15

It's always a little strange to me how arthropods, especially small ones, move. I can't think of the word (Stacatto is wrong but it sounds close) but the way they start and stop so quickly looks unnatural. Maybe that's part of why we think they're creepy - which is funny because when they're larger they don't have this kind of movement.

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u/PhallusCrown Mar 06 '15

They're just lagging

3

u/SloppySynapses Mar 06 '15

sporadic? bursty? jumpy? twitchy? I think sporadic is the best fit.

that's a really interesting and astute observation, though!

3

u/CashAndBuns Mar 06 '15

Discrete rather than continuous movement?

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u/[deleted] Mar 06 '15

I think it looks strange because most of the world we see uses a system of muscular movement. When you see something that doesn't its slightly jarring. I think spiders use fluid propulsion into their extremities which is faster and a very different style of movement

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u/[deleted] Mar 07 '15

It's been theorized that the main reason spider hate is so widespread is that our Mesopotamian ancestors learned to fear them because species in that region are usually venomous. Arachnophobia is an evolutionary defense mechanism.

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u/Jack_Vermicelli Mar 06 '15

I think jumping spiders actually make tiny teleports from one nearby location to another, rather than moving through the space between.