How do spiders eat?

After trapping prey, spiders eat by releasing digestive enzymes that liquefy food and make it easier to swallow. Spiders cannot consume solid food whole, so digested matter must be broken down to pass through their narrow digestive tracts.

Spiders have mouths with chelicerae: jointed jaws containing sharp, protruding fangs capable of expelling venom. Some species use tiny serrations on their chelicerae to grind up food before liquefying it, whereas other spiders eject the enzymes directly from their fangs while attacking prey. They then use special hairs on the chelicerae to extract liquefied innards from dead insects without damaging their exoskeletons.