Humans can survive brutally cold winters with much greater success than every kind of bug species. Even if a grasshopper could throw on a parka and muffs it would still die from the extreme cold since spiders cannot regulate their internal temperatures, in other words, spiders are cold blooded. It has been commonly assumed that spiders could not alter their blood temperatures through natural physiological processes, like humans can. However, recent research is telling a different story.

According to a recently published scholarly article from NYU, a researcher discovered that insects can control their internal bodily temperatures indirectly by influencing the levels of salt present in their circulatory systems. The cold weather causes the insect’s blood to move into its gut, which will result in a fatal buildup of potassium in the spider’s internal structures, successfully killing it. It’s clear that without salt spiders would end up six feet under every winter.

Do you believe another factor is responsible for preventing the deaths of spiders during the winter?