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
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​Facts:  Life Cycle of a Spider  .  Spiders 101 . Grass Spiders . Types of Spiders . Black Widow Spiders . Classifying Insects and Spiders . Fun Spider Facts . Spider Facts . Strange but True Spider Facts . Interesting Facts About Spiders . Fun Facts About Spiders . Awesome Spider Facts . Common House Spiders . Spiders . Spider Facts for Young Children
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SPIDERS
​There are about 37,000 species of spiders.
  • Spiders are Arachnids, not Insects.
  • Have two body segments, eight legs, no wings or antennae.
  • All have fangs and all bite.
  • There are about 35,000 named species of spiders worldwide.
  • Those with hair are actually mammals and produce milk using the same glands with which they produce silk threads.
  • Are extremely carnivorous.  10,000 siders sealed in a tomb will eventually result in one enormously fat spider.
  • Cannot die of natural causes.  If kept safe, they can continue to live and grow.  In China there exists a collection of 'holy' spiders, hatched some 2,800 years ago during the Mang-Tsun dynasty.
  • Are covered with hairs that pick up vibrations and smells from the air.  They have poor eyesight.
  • Jumping spiders have the best vision and have 8 very large eyes.
  • Have 48 knees (8 joints on each of its 8 legs).
  • Not all spiders spin webs - for instance, the trap-door spider lives in an underground burrow.
  • Can recycle their silk.  They eat what isn't needed .
  • There are different types of webs:
    *   Funnel webs
    *   Sheet webs
    *   Circular webs
  • All the webs are made of silk and are designed to catch food.
  • Silk is made from liquid squeezed through holes in spinnerets on the spider's rear.
  • The silk used to make a web is incredibly thin, it is stronger than steel.
  • The silk conducts heat better than most metals.
  • Recycle their webs by eating them.
  • The largest spider is the Goliath Tarantula from the rain forests of South America and is about the size of a dinner plate.
  • The smallest spider is from Samoa and is the size of the head of a pin.
  • The largest spider is from South America (the Goliath Bird eater) and is the size of a dinner plate
  • Webs take several hours to build and are rebuilt daily.
  • Do not get stuck in their own webs because they have included some strands of non-sticky silk in the web on which the spider knows to walk.
  • Spiders have transparent blood.
  • Can survive for hours underwater by entering a self-induced coma.
  • In Britain, spiders outnumber people by more than 500,000 to 1.
  • The Vampire Spider is attracted to the smell of human feet.
  • No two spider webs are the same.
  • A rare spider - in East Africa - is called the Snow Spider.  It has a white body and spins a black web.
  • The most valuable spider is the Kenyan Applecrosser.  They grow beautiful, near-flawless emeralds on their abdomens.
  • Copperweb Spiders spin webs made of solid steel.
  • Bola Spiders catches its prey by creating a poisonous sticky mixture and attaching it to its web which it then throws its lasso at its victim. 
  • Bola Spiders produce a pheromone which attracts male moths which are then lassoed.
  • Crab Spiders come in many colours and they hide from predators and ambush prey by hiding in a flower of its colour.
  • Spitting Spiders sneaks up on its prey, stopping about 10mm distance and then spits two poisonous silk threats - in a zigzag manner.
  • 95% of spiders in your house have never been outside.
  • Seem bigger the more scared you are.
  • At least 18 species of spider catch and eat fish.
  • The world's largest spider weighs as much as 7 bags of crisps.
  • More than 300 species of spider pretend to be ants.
  • Camel spiders move so fast they are called 'Kalahari Ferrris'.
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A selection of spider types:
  • Crab spiders
  • Funnel-web spiders
  • Jumping spiders
  • Trap-door spiders
  • Nursery Web spiders
  • Orb spiders
  • Spitting spiders
  • Wolf spiders
  • Pink prowler
  • Missing sector orb spider
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Black Widow
  • The most well-known spider.
  • Its venom is dangerous to humans and is said to be more potent than a rattlesnakes.
  • Both males and females have an hourglass shape mark underneath their abdomen.
  • The females are relatively larger than the male.
  • The female rarely eats the male after mating.

Tarantulas
  • Tarantulas are very hairy and are also known as baboon spiders.
  • If a tarantula is frightened, it will tilt its body backwards, throw its front legs up (to reveal its immense fangs).
  • If that is not enough to scare its attacker, it will point its abdomen at the threat, and vibrate its legs to rub off the small barb-tipped hairs on its back and send them towards its attacker.  The hairs stick into the skin and sting like a nettle.
  • Is actually harmless to humans with a venom weaker than that of a bee's sting.
  • Is hunted by the Tarantula Hawk fly to provide food for its larvae.
  • Can live up to 2 years without eating.
  • Mother Tarantulas kill about 99% of the babies they hatch.

Money Spiders - also known as Gossamer Spiders
  • Can fly.
  • Considered to be good luck.
  • The 100 or more spiderlings of the money spider will disperse by air.  The tiny spiders produce strands of thin silk which catch the wind and carry them for many miles.


​Water Spiders
  • Hunts fish, tadpoles and underwater insects.
  • Cannot breathe underwater, so they build a 'diving bell' out of silk and the bubble will contain air.
  • Sits inside the bubble of air with its legs hanging in the water in order to feel for prey.
​There are about 37,000 species of spiders
COLLECTIVE NOUNS
  1. A cluster of spiders
  2. A clutter of spiders
  3. A venom of spiders
IDIOMS, METAPHORS AND EXPRESSIONS
  1. Along came the spider
  2. 'Come into my parlour, said the spider to the fly'
  3. The spider and the fly
  4. To blow away the cobwebs

​SIMILES
  • As hairy as a spider
  • As fragile as a spider's thread
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HUNTSMAN SPIDER
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RED KNEED TARANTULA
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BLACK WIDOW SPIDER
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BOLA SPIDER
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HOUSE SPIDER
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CRAB SPIDER
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TRAP-DOOR SPIDER
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JUMPING SPIDER
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WATER SPIDER
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WATER SPIDER
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TARANTULA
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TARANTULA
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HUNTSMAN SPIDER
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A BLACK WIDOW SPIDER