(I) It might not be a comforting thought for most people
that spiders can hear you when you arrive home.
(II) Most spiders are perfectly harmless, but they still
manage to frighten people. (III) Recently, a type of
jumping spider, Phidippus audax, has been studied and
the discovery made about its sense of hearing is
surprising. (IV) It had been thought to rely almost
completely on sight and the vibrations it feels through
objects. (V) But microelectrodes implanted in the
spiders’ brains showed that their neurons responded to
sounds such as chairs scraping and people clapping
even when the noises were made between 3 and 5
metres away.