Spiders, one of nature's most helpful bugs. Why? Because they eat unwanted and/or excess bugs. Without spiders, the Earth would be overrun with insects and other bugs. Without birds and lizards and such, the world would be overrun with spiders. Everything falls perfectly in its place in the world. But I'm here to tell you about spiders in general. I have decided to give you Twenty Fun Facts about spiders instead of my boring old post that goes like: "Hi! This is this plant and it is part of this family and it can be used to cure this disease, etc, etc." So here goes:
1) Spiders have two parts to their body; the cephalothorax, where their face is, and the abdomen, where they keep their buttocks.
2) Spiders' legs grow entirely out of their cephalothorax, no where else. If their legs grow out of their abdomen, it is not a spider.
3) There are over 40,000 different species of spider!
4) There are true spiders, called ananeomorphs,[such as black widows and brown recluses] and false spiders, also known as myglamorphs. Myglamorphs include tarantulas, and grand-daddy long legs.
5) Females are usually larger than the males.
6) All species (except the Uloboridae) are poisonous, although with most the venom is hardly strong enough to make it hurt a little.
7) Spider silk is the strongest material of them all, being able to hold up to a ton!
8) Although spider silk is so strong, it is easy to pull from its hold on a tree, wall etc. That is why often new webs are made every day!
9) Old webs are usually rolled up and eaten!
10) Not all spiders spin webs, whether they be ananeomorphs or myglamorphs.
11) Spiders have 48 knees! Meaning they have 8 legs, each leg with six joints.
12) Theoretically, spiders cannot die of natural causes. If kept safe, well fed, and well watered, they can live forever.
13) Spiders hardly ever bite for no reason. They usually bite out of self-defense, or if provoked.
14) Spiders can spin a web in a vacuum (the kind you use at home, or the one with absolutely nothing in it) perfectly.
15) Some mother spiders will sacrifice herself as food for her babies.
16) There is no relation from the size of a spider to the degree of venom potency.
17) Scientists are researching to see if soon, spider venom may, hopefully, cure Parkinson's Disease.
18) Spider silk may eventually be a replacement for Kevlar, the material used in bullet-proof clothing.
19) Female spiders do not usually eat the male after mating. If she is hungry enough, though, she will.
20) A difference between ananeomorphs and myglomorphs is the placement of the chelicera, the body part where the poison comes out. With true spiders, the chelicera point toward each other, while with myglomorphs, the chelicera are parallel, curving back towards then head.
And that is all for now! Next week I will be focusing on black widows! TTFN!
