Spiders - Arachnophobia, Spider, Spider Taxonomy, Spider Bite, Cultural Depictions of Spiders, Ant Mimicry, Spider Fighting, Social Spider (Paperback)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 42. Chapters: Arachnophobia, Spider, Spider taxonomy, Spider bite, Cultural depictions of spiders, Ant mimicry, Spider fighting, Social spider, Ballooning, Evolution of spiders, Endangered spiders, Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Arachnology, Rugathodes sexpunctatus, List of families of spiders, Spider cannibalism, Fried spider, Opisthothelae, Myrmarachne melanotarsa, Venezuelan suntiger, Mahura, Spider behavior, Trochosa ruricola, Phlogiellus inermis, Philodromus rufus vibrans, Trap line. Excerpt: Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms. Spiders are found worldwide on every continent except for Antarctica, and have become established in nearly every habitat with the exception of air and sea colonization. As of 2008, approximately 40,000 spider species, and 109 families have been recorded by taxonomists; however, there has been confusion within the scientific community as to how all these families should be classified, as evidenced by the over 20 different classifications that have been proposed since 1900. Anatomically, spiders differ from other arthropods in that the usual body segments are fused into two tagmata, the cephalothorax and abdomen, and joined by a small, cylindrical pedicel. Unlike insects, spiders do not have antennae. In all except the most primitive group, the Mesothelae, spiders have the most centralized nervous systems of all arthropods, as all their ganglia are fused into one mass in the cephalothorax. Unlike most arthropods, spiders have no extensor muscles in their limbs and instead extend them by hydraulic pressure. Their abdomens bear appendages that have been modified into spinnerets that extrude silk from up t...