Common Name: Spiders
Scientific Name: ARANEAE

Spiders are invertebrate animals (animals with no spine) that have eight legs, no mouth parts and no wings. Every spider has two body segments, the head-like part is called the cephalothorax, and an abdomen called the opisthosoma, which I think are not important to know. Also, the eyes of a spider are single lenses, not compound eyes, which vary from plain light/dark receptors, to excellent, crystal-clear vision that can challenge the sight of an eagle. But not all spiders have eyes, including cave spiders, which scuttle in the dark. I wouldn’t want to be there! Imagine living in a cave, tripping over stones because you couldn't see. Since spiders have no antennae they use sensitive hairs on their legs to detect scent, sounds, and air currents.

Interestingly, spiders can only eat their food in liquid form, which means digestion is kept to a minimum. So how do spiders turn their food into liquid? Well once the spider has caught its prey, it spits up digestive acids onto the prey while chewing it, which is enough to liquefy the insides of the prey. This end ‘product’ is then sucked up by the spider. Hairs around the mouth sort out any solids while the spider eats. Although this is the most common way to catch their prey, some spiders inject acids directly into the prey, and then suck out the insides. Once the spider has finished its meal, the exoskeleton (hard outer skin) of the prey is thrown away.

While some spiders eat their prey straight away, others leave their poisoned prey in a ball of silk, which the prey cannot escape from. Another weird fact is that the spiders can eat their own silk, so when a spider drops down on a strand of silk, it will quickly munch on the web on its journey back up. If I produced silk I don't think I would like to eat it. Most spiders will protect themselves by biting the predators, but there are other ways. One species of spider, cartwheels away from its predators so that it cannot be eaten, now that's weird.

The webs of a spider are complicated and take around 45 minutes to complete. To most people’s surprise, cobwebs are only found in or near buildings, and are quite close to the ground. Additionally, cobwebs are not sticky, which is quite odd, since whenever you touch it, it somehow sticks to your hand. If you ever walk into a web around face-height in a bush or around plants, you will soon notice that it comes from a colourful striped spider about 4cm long, once it lands on your nose.

Have you ever known why spiders sometimes live indoors? The reason is because during autumn, spiders look for a warm place to rest for the winter. Other places spiders are found are all over the world, living underwater in silk domes, on the tops of mountains, and throughout forests and even underground. If you ever encounter a dangerous spider, the best thing to do is move somewhere else using a jar.