SPIDERS
Arachnid      -     Invertebrate     -      Carnivore
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SPIDER IN ITS WEB
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GIANT HOUSE SPIDER
Male:  Spider
Female:  Spider
Young:  Spiderling
  • There are about 40,000 species of Spiders.
  • Arachnophobia is the fear of Spiders.
Selection of Spider types:
Crab Spiders
Funnel-Web Spiders
Jumping Spiders
Trap-Door Spiders
​Nursery Web Spiders
​Peacock Spiders
Orb Spiders
Spitting Spiders
Wolf Spiders
Pink Prowler Spiders
​Missing Sector Orb Spiders
SPIDERS
  • Are classified as invertebrates.  They don't have a backbone.
  • Shed their skin.
  • Its blood is pale blue.
  • Are found on every Continent of the world - except Antarctica.
  • Not all spider bites are deadly.
  • Female spiders have a large appetite.
  • Spiders eat more insects than birds and bats combined.
  • Some spiders eat insects, other large ones eat birds and lizards.
  • On average, there are 50,000 spiders per acre in green areas.
  • Male spiders like to give gifts of flies and other insects, often wrapped in silk, to serenade prospective partners.    
  • Cover their eggs under silk to protect them.  
  • They inject a substance into their prey to dissolve its insides.  Then they suck the liquid through a feeding tube.
  • Some female spiders eat their mate.
  • Some spiders have never been outside.  In fact, for many, there is little chance of survival outside.
  • The average house has about 30 spiders.
  • The average life span for a spider is 1-2 years.  Although the female Tarantula may live up to 20 years.
  • Can lay as many as 3,000 eggs at one time.    The Wolf Spider carries its young on its back
  • Moults about 10 times through its life.
  • Black Lace Weaver Spiders devour their mothers after hatching.
  • A single strand of spider silk is thinner than a human hair, but five times stronger than steel of the same width.
  • A fear of spiders is called 'arachnophobia'.

Appearance:
  • Spiders have 8 legs - when they move, there are always 4 of the 8 legs on the surface.
  • There are no muscles in their limbs, they move using hydraulic power.  
  • Have no antenna - which separates them from insects.
  • Are near-sighted.
  • Has four sets of eyes.  Arrangement of the eyes depends upon the species.
  • Do not have teeth.
  • Have short hairs on their feet to help them walk upside dow on ceilings and over glass.
  • The hairs on the spider's legs (first pair of legs) are sensitive to taste.  The spider 'tastes' its prey by touching it.
  • Have no bones.  It has an exoskeleton - a hard suit of armour that protects the body.
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Webs
  • Not all spiders spin webs - some wait for their prey to approach them or they hunt and catch it. 
  • The spider's silk is extremely strong. It is considered to be five times stronger than a strand of steel that is the same thickness.
  • When a spider is going to make a new web, it rolls the old one up into a ball, and some species will eat it.  
  • The web is liquid until it comes into contact with the air.
  • There are 7 different types of silk.  Some silk has special glue to make it sticky to catch insects.  Other silk is not sticky.
  • On average, it takes a spider about 1 hour to spin a web.
  • Abandoned spiders' webs are called 'cobwebs'. 
  • Hummingbirds use small sticks and the silk from a spider's web to weave a nest for themselves.
  • Cannot fly, but sometimes they sail through the air on a line of silk - known as 'ballooning'.
  • The silk contained Vitamin K, which helps to prevent bleeding and, in the past, people put the webs on their wounds to help stop bleeding.
  • A strand of spider silk long enough to encircle the Earth would only weigh just over a pound.

Jumping Spiders
  • Can jump 50 times their own length.
  • Have good eyesight.
  • Two kinds of Jumping Spiders have been found at 23,000ft.

Raft Spiders
  • Live on or in water.
  • Can run across the water's surface.

The Golden Wheel Spider
  • A huntsman spider native to the Namib Desert of Southern Africa.
  • Escapes from danger by flipping onto its side and cartwheeling down the sand dunes
  • Can move at speeds up to 44 turns per second.
  • Buries itself into a silk-lined burrow.
  • Very vulnerable to the Pompilid Wasp which will sting and paralyse the spider before planting eggs into its body.

The Most Poisonous
  • The Brazilian Wandering Spider (also known as the Banana Spider) is the most poisonous.
  • A small amount of venom will kill a human.

The Most Aggressive Spider
  • The Funnel Web Spider

The Smallest Spider
  • The Patu Marplesi Spider of Colombia

The Largest Spider
  • The Giant Bird Eating Spider and the Huntsman Spider
  • The Huntsman Spider has a leg-span of around 30cm (12 inches).

The Fastest Spider
  • The Wolf Spider can run at speeds of up to 2 feet per second.

The Most Deadly Spiders
  • Black Widow Spiders - the bite of the female is dangerous.  She needs only to mate once and can then produce eggs for the rest of her life (about 2 years).
  • The female Black Widow Spider's venom is 15 times more powerful than the poison of a rattlesnake.
  • Black Widow Spiders feed their young liquid from their mouth.  
  • Funnel Web Spiders
  • Brown Recluse Spiders
  • Cats and horses are highly susceptible to Black Widow venom - dogs are relatively resistant and sheep and rabbits are apparently immune.

The Most Feared Spider
  • The Tarantula - but it has a surprisingly weak venom and it's bite is like a wasp sing.

The Oldest Spider
  • A female Trapdoor Spider, living in Australia, is believed to have been the oldest living Spider - 43 years.  It is thought that she died from a wasp sting.

The Peacock Spider
  • Found in Australia.
  • Have a wonderful courtship dance - unique to each male. During the dance, the male will pause and drum on the ground - even on the head of the female, at times.  The drumbeat vibrates across the ground and up the female's legs, which she finds irresistible.
  • During the courtship, the male fans out his rear end, resembling a peacock, and showing off his stunning colours.
  • Are venomous to other creatures, but possibly not to humans.

Tarantulas
  • Large and often hairy spiders.
  • Generally, pose no threat to humans.
  • The largest species is called the Goliath Birdeater.
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PEACOCK SPIDER - Male
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CRAB SPIDER
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HOUSE SPIDER
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HUNTSMAN SPIDER
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PEACOCK SPIDERLING
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JUMPING SPIDER
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TARANTULA
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A BLACK WIDOW SPIDER