Spiders have always held a unique place in both popular culture, and folklore. There are movies that reflect humanity's seemingly innate fear of spiders, and spiders figure prominently in written legends. Humans have a distinct and almost equal fear of snakes, whose venom can be just as destructive and also cause necrosis.

n the United States, spiders have become a popular decoration for Halloween, lending more credence to the belief that they are some kind of spooky entity. In reality, spiders are fascinating creatures, who fill a unique place in the ecosystem. There is also a large variety, all with different habits and characteristics.

Wolf spiders are unique in that they do not spin webs to capture their prey, but instead hunt them down. They are also distinctive because the female spiders do not lay eggs but carry them in a round sac, so that they are always with her. Even in this condition, she is able to hunt. Another interesting fact is that their eyes are more reflective than many others spiders, so they are relatively easy to catch. Simply shining a flashlight causes a reflective glow, enabling them to be easily seen. Wolf spiders will bite if provoked, and will release venom continuously. However, their spider bites are usually harmless to humans and do not cause necrosis.

Tarantulas, with their furry bodies, slow moving, crawl-like motion, and ability to jump long distances are familiar to most. Tarantulas are widely thought to be venomous, and while they do bite, their bite is actually milder than a bee sting, and not generally a threat to humans. With their prey, however, it is a different story. Tarantulas grab with their appendages, and inject venom which paralyzes. They are then able to devour their victims with their piercing fangs, or by covering it with digestive enzymes which cause it to liquify, and enable them to suck it up with their straw like mouth. Tarantula's prey mostly includes insects but may include small rodents, as well. Tarantulas possess book lungs. With stacks of alternating tissue, and air pockets, their lungs have the appearance of a folded book. This increases the surface area of the lungs dramatically and allows for maximum respiration.

Black widow spiders pose the most risk to humans. They are known for the red hourglass shape on their abdomen, though not all black widows have this. The females pose the most risk, since they are considerably larger than the males, and thus, are able to inject more venom into their victims. Black widows do not aggressively seek to bite. Most bites are similar to scorpions which sting when they are accidentally pinched or squeezed, or possibly when they mistake a human appendage for prey. They have poor eyesight, and depend on vibrations to sense prey, or the advancement of a predator.

Another spider with a venomous bite is the brown recluse. They are light brown, and typically grow to a size of ¼ in and ¾ in. Because of the black, violin shaped markings on their cephalothorax they are sometimes known as fiddle spiders. Their abdomens, however, usually have no markings at all. It is interesting to note that, while most spiders have eight eyes, brown recluses have six, arranged in pairs. Brown recluse spiders are found in the south and Midwest. They are not aggressive, and most bites have occurred when a human attempts to put on an item of clothing that unknowingly contains the spider. They are web weavers, but leave their webs at night to hunt.

Daddy longs legs are known for their distinctive appearance. With their comparatively long leg size, they are easily distinguished from other spiders. A problem, however, is that what the average person calls a daddy longs legs is not actually a spider at all. They are arachnids but not actually spiders, and are called “harvestmen.” While spiders have eight eyes, and two body sections, harvestmen have only two eyes and a single body. Looking for these differences can help one distinguish harvestmen from true spiders.

Like the daddy long legs, camel spiders are arachnids, but are not considered true spiders. They are solifugae. They live throughout the world, including the Middle East, and in the sandy part of the United States. They are usually seen in the spring or summer because they avoid cold weather. However, they also avoid sun. They are nocturnal, coming out at night to hunt, and will seek shade if they are out in the daylight hours. They can be quite large, growing to a length of 5-6 inches. They have large central eyes, with which they can see surprisingly well, and use to hunt and to avoid enemies. Like the brown recluse, the females are larger than the males. They are known for their large chelicerae, and may appear to have ten legs, while still having only eight. This website has become the most searched for Spider Control Elimination & Extermination.

Spider webs are used by a majority of spiders as a way to trap prey such as insects, and to lay their eggs. Webs enable spiders to catch prey without expending much energy, though it does take tremendous energy for the spider to spin the web. But not all spiders use their webs in this manner. Bolus spiders, for example, spin a line of silk with a sticky end, which it then throws toward its prey. As has already been noted, wolf spiders do not use their webs to capture prey, but instead go out to hunt. The net casting spider combines these two methods, weaving a spun net on their front legs, waiting for prey, pouncing, and capturing it in their net, and paralyzing them with a venomous bite. This is productive since the net spider neither has to expend the energy to directly hunt, or to build a large web.

While they may be the stuff of legends, spiders are practical, interesting, and helpful to humanity. They should be respected more than they are feared.

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