Spiders
aren’t insects; they’re members of an arthropod group called
arachnids. A spider injects venom with its fangs, then releases
saliva, turning a victim’s insides into a liquid, which it
drinks.
A Tarantula Up Close Like other spiders, a tarantula has two body sections, eight legs,
and a head located on its front body part. It uses its two fangs to
puncture and hold prey while its leg-like pedipalps squeeze out body
juices. A tarantula’s bite can be painful, but it isn’t any more
dangerous than a bee sting.
Close, but No Spider A Daddy-long-legs isn’t a spider, though it looks a lot like
one. It doesn’t have a waist between its front body part and its
abdomen. Its legs are longer and thinner than a spider’s, and it
carries its body hung low. Daddy-long-legs eat insects and
worms, and some kinds also eat fungi and rotting fruit.
Silken Strands Under a spider’s abdomen, near the rear, are tiny stubs
called spinnerets. The spider uses its legs to pull liquid silk
made in its abdomen from the spinnerets. The silk hardens as it
stretches. Since silk is made out of protein, a spider eats the
used silk of an old web before spinning a new one.
Versatile Silk Not all spiders spin webs, but many use silk in other ways.
Some protect their eggs in silken egg sacs. The Wolf Spider
carries her egg sac attached to her spinnerets. Many tarantulas
line their burrows with silk. Some trap-door spiders make silken
lids for their burrows.
