Simply Spiders
Most people are afraid of spiders and find them disgusting. However, there are people who find them fascinating and even keep them as pets.
Spiders are creepy and crawly. They eat flies, crickets, woodlice and centipedes. Larger species, such as the tarantulas, can catch and kill birds, lizards and snakes.
There are over 40,000 different species of spider. Many people think they are insects, but they are NOT. Spiders are arachnids! Insects have six legs, and arachnids have eight. Arachnids also have a two-part body and two pinchers. They don’t have antennae, but instead have bristly hairs on their body and legs, which are used to pick up signals and messages — spider can taste things with its feet!
They live everywhere, from the tops of mountains to the bottoms of caves.
The oldest spider web was found frozen in amber; it is about 100 million years old. Only half of all arachnids can spin webs, which they use to catch prey. Other species have to hunt or lie in wait for their food. You know, they don’t get stuck in their webs because they have special claws on the ends of their legs, which they use to move across the web without touching the sticky areas. Some spiders build webs which can be up to 1.5 metres in diameter!
Many people are afraid of spiders. This fear is called arachnophobia, but only a few spiders are harmful to humans.
There are no poisonous spiders in Europe. But in Australia and the USA, people learn to live with some of the most dangerous spiders, including black widow.
Brazilian huntsman is the world’s most poisonous spider.
So most of them are not dangerous and can be very useful at home, for they kill flies, they don’t need much space, they are not too noisy, and they are generally very docile.
Tarantulas are unique pets. They are able to protect the owner in case of danger. Sometimes this spider dance to the music and you can play with it. They are able to live for 2.5 years without food. But I think it’s better to feed them.
Spider can live up to 30 years or more.
Bagheera kiplingi is a unique vegetarian spider.
Simply Spiders
They live everywhere, even underwater. Water spiders are called “diving bells” because they build bell-shaped webs underwater. The bell webs trap air bubbles for the spider to breathe.