Question

I was trying to save a house spider which was on my water tub, it was desperately trying to move out of the tub but due to the smooth surface couldnt manage, the tub was wet but not filled with water so I tried to assist it with a net, but it end up slipping into tiny puddle of water (like a drop or two) and it got shrunked (the water probably made its legs closed due to surface tension of the droplet)

I then managed to gently soak the water with paper towels but the spider appears lifeless.

Is it dead? The whole process of getting soaked in water and being dryed up with paper towels was less then a minute.

Now I saw some reference where it says that it takes hours for spider to drown. So is it likely that the lifeless spider on my paper towel is most probably still alive?

Update (1 hours passed) I notice some twitching of one of its legs, very subtle though. Not sure if it is still alive or just muscular spasm.

Update (2 hours passed) 3 of its legs seems to be oriented in a way that they are touching the base of paper towel. Maybe the twitching action was to fix its legs? The spider still appear lifeless though :(

Update (2 days later) no movement as the spider appears lifeless. Most likely died but I want to know why? how can a drop of water kill a spider, when ants and other insects survive. Is it the crushing force of water droplet tension that cramped its legs? I could see very subtle adjustments of its legs after I dried it. The final form it took is in the picture is below. Looks like it managed to re-orient its legs but in the process didnt survive.

Answer 1

While it is unlikely that the small amount of water had a crushing effect, the house spider may have succumbed to stress, physical injury, or shock. Diving bell spiders, a different species, use a silk air tank to breathe underwater and can survive submerged for a day.

Step-by-step explanation:

Spiders, including house spiders, typically have adaptations that prevent them from drowning quickly, allowing them to survive in water for extended periods. However, they do not possess gills like aquatic spiders such as the diving bell spiders, which can stay underwater for up to 24 hours by using a silk air tank that functions like a gill. Your observation that the spider seemed lifeless after getting wet may not be a result of drowning but could be due to other factors, such as physical injury, stress, or exposure to water being a shock to its system. The tiny droplet likely didn't provide a crushing force to harm the spider. The gentle leg movements initially observed could have been a sign of the spider's attempt to recover, but if there was no subsequent movement, it is likely the spider did not survive.