Jumping Spiders “Hear” Long-Range Audio with Their Hairy Legs

When Peter Parker’s “spidey sense” starts tingling, it’s warning him about danger nearby. Real spiders are known for their ability to detect close-up threats, but a new study suggests that they can also sense sounds that are much farther away.

Tiny jumping spiders, which depend primarily on their vision to catch prey and evade predators, were thought to be capable of sensing only the sounds produced nearby, the study authors wrote.

But the researchers found that the spiders could also sense and respond to sounds coming from distances more than 9.8 feet (3 meters) away—no small feat for a creature that measures just 0.04 to 0.98 inches (1 to 25 millimeters) and lacks ears and eardrums.

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