- Spiders are arachnids, not insects. (duhhhh...)
- The word “spider” comes from the Old English word spithra and is related to the German spinne, both of which mean “spinner”.
- On average, it takes a spider about 60 minutes to spin a web.
- All spiders spin silk, but not all spiders spin webs.
- The silk is a liquid inside the spider abdomen. When the spider releases it and has contact with the air, it becomes solid.
- Abandoned spider webs are called cobwebs.
- Some spiders eat their old web before starting a new one. Others roll the old web up and throw it away. Web spiders rebuild their web each day!
- A spider has no bones. Rather, it has an exoskeleton, which is like a hard suit of armor that protects its body.
- Most spiders live for about a year. However, some tarantulas live more than 20 years.
- The average house has 30 spiders.
- Some male spiders give dead flies to the females as presents.
- Most female spiders are bigger than male spiders.
- Spiders are the only group of animals to build webs.
- Spiders have short hairs on their feet that allow them to walk on ceilings and wall.
- Spiders don’t usually eat their prey because they have small mouths. Instead, they put chemicals into and on the prey to turn the body into a liquid. Then the spider sucks it up.
- Most spiders live on land, but a few, like the raft spiders (Dolomedes fimbriatus), live in and on water.
- Tarantulas are large and often hairy spiders, the biggest species have been known to kill mice, lizards and birds.
- Most tarantula species pose no threat to humans.
- The effects of a spider bite vary according to several factors, including the amount of venom injected and the size and age of the person who was bitten.
- The most venomous spider in the world is the Brazilian Wandering Spider, or the banana spider.
- The world’s biggest spider is the goliath spider (Theraphosa blondi).
- An absurd fear of spiders is called “arachnophobia”.
- Spider-Man is one of the most popular superheroes. In early comic books, the radioactive spider that bites Peter Parker is incorrectly referred to as an insect.
