Spiders
Jackson Zoological Park

Spiders

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Clerck, 1757

Spiders are predatory invertebrate animals that have two body segments, eight legs, no chewing mouth parts and no wings. They are classified in the order Araneae, one of several orders within the larger class of arachnids, a group which also contains scorpions, whip scorpions, mites, ticks, and opiliones (harvestmen). The study of spiders is known as arachnology.

All spiders produce silk, a thin, strong protein strand extruded by the spider from spinnerets most commonly found on the end of the abdomen. Many species use it to trap insects in webs, although there are many species that hunt freely. Silk can be used to aid in climbing, form smooth walls for burrows, build egg sacs, wrap prey, and temporarily hold sperm, among other applications.

All spiders except those in the families Uloboridae and Holarchaeidae, and in the suborder Mesothelae) (together about 350 species) can inject venom to protect themselves or to kill and liquify prey. Only about 200 species, however, have bites that can pose health problems to humans.[1] Many larger species' bites may be painful, but will not produce lasting health concerns.

In 1973 Skylab 3 took 2 spiders into space to test their web-spinning capability in zero-gravity.

Many spiders do not build webs for catching prey. Some examples include: Brazilian wandering spider
Brown recluse spider
Huntsman spiders
Jumping spiders
Lynx spiders
Nursery web spiders
Spitting spiders
Tarantulas
Wolf spiders (Lycosidae)
Yellow sac spider
Assassin spider

Tangleweb spiders

Members of this group (family Theridiidae) are characterized by irregular, messy-looking, tangled, three-dimensional (non-sticky) webs, generally low and anchored to the ground or floor and wall. They are commonly found in or near buildings; some build webs in bushes. The spider generally hangs in the center of its web, upside-down. Prey is generally ground-dwelling insects such as ants or crickets, in addition to small flying insects. These include the infamous black widows, the minute happyface spider, and thousands of other species.

Orb web spiders

Spiders in several families (eg., Araneidae, Tetragnathidae, Nephilidae) spin the familiar spiral snare that most people think of as the typical spider web. On average, an orb-weaving spider takes 30 minutes to an hour to weave a web. They range in size from quite large (6+ cm) to very small (<1 cm), but all are quite harmless to humans, beyond the shock entailed from walking into a face-height web and having a large spider dangling from your nose. Many of the daytime hunters have a 'ferocious' appearance, with spines or large 'fangs', but they are almost invariably inoffensive, preferring to drop on a dragline to the ground when disturbed, rather than bite, which can nevertheless be quite painful.

Other forms of webs

Many other groups spin webs in a variety of structural styles. Some (the Linyphiidae) make various forms of bowl- or dome-shaped webs with or without a flat sheet or a tangled web above or below. Some make a flat platform extending from a funnel-shaped retreat, with generally a tangle of silk above the web. The common northern hemisphere 'funnel-web', 'house' or 'grass' spiders are only superficially similar to the notorious Sydney funnel-web spider, and are generally considered to be quite harmless. Some of the more primitive group Atypidae may make tubular webs up the base of trees, from inside which they bite insects that land on the webbing. These spiders look quite ferocious, but are not generally considered to be particularly dangerous to humans.

Spiders as food

Spiders, especially larger sorts, are eaten routinely or as a delicacy in various parts of the world, including Cambodia, Thailand, the Solomon Islands, and parts of South America.

The brown recluse

The brown recluse spider is a venomous spider, Loxosceles reclusa, of the family Sicariidae (formerly of the family Loxoscelidae). It is usually between ¼ and ¾ inch (6-20mm) but may grow larger. It is brown and usually has markings on the dorsal side of its cephalothorax, with a black line coming from it that looks like a violin with the neck of the violin pointing to the rear of the spider, resulting in the nickname "fiddleback spider" or "violin spider". Coloring varies from light tan to brown and the violin marking may not be visible. Since the "violin pattern" is not diagnostic, and other spiders may have similar marking (i.e. cellar spiders (Pholcidae family) and pirate spiders (Mimetidae family)), for purposes of identification it is far more important to examine the eyes. Differing from most spiders, which have 8 eyes, recluse spiders have 6 eyes arranged in pairs (dyads) with one median pair and 2 lateral pairs. Only a few other spiders have 3 pairs of eyes arranged this way (e.g., scytodids), and recluses can be distinguished from these as recluse abdomens have no coloration pattern nor do their legs, which also lack spines. Recluse spiders build irregular webs that frequently include a shelter consisting of disorderly threads. These spiders frequently build their webs in woodpiles and sheds, closets, garages, and other places that are dry and generally undisturbed. Unlike most web weavers, they leave these webs at night to hunt. Males will move around more when hunting while females don't usually stray far from their web.

Type of damage:

The severity of the bite may vary. The symptoms may vary from no harm at all to a reaction that is very severe. Often there is a systemic reaction within 24-36 hours characterized by restlessness, fever, chills, nausea, weakness, and joint pain. Where the bite occurs there is often tissue death and skin is sloughed off. In some severe cases, a wound may develop that lasts several months.