Spiders
All spiders have 8 legs. Most of them have 8 eyes, but some of them can not see very well.
They have 2 arms and 2 fangs.
Spiders have lots of hair.
A spider knows another animal may be close if it feels its hair move. Spiders do not have ears. A spider hears with its hairs.
How they eat
All spiders eat meat. Most spiders eat bugs. A spider holds its prey in its arms and bites it with its fangs. It squirts venom into its prey. Venom is a poison and stops the bug moving.
Have no fear! In the UK, no spiders that live in the wild can kill us. Their venom is not strong enough. |
This spider has got a bug in its arms.
Catching prey
All spiders make silk. Some spiders make a web with their silk.
A spider can hang from its silk thread.
A spider's web is for catching bugs to eat.
Spiders have oily legs so they do not stick to their webs.
Some spiders hide and jump out onto their prey. Some wolf spiders make a hole in the ground and hide there.
A wolf spider has come out of its hole.
Some make a door to hide the hole!
Babies
Baby spiders come from eggs. Before a spider mum lays her eggs, she spins a silk mat. Then the mum lays lots of eggs on the mat. Next she covers the eggs with more silk to make an egg sac.
Baby spiders hatch from the eggs and come out of the sac.
The wolf spider is a good mum. It carries its babies on its back.
Spider skin
As a spider grows, it gets too big for its skin. When its skin is too tight, its skin peels off. It has a new skin under the old skin.
The spider is hanging under its old skin.
Appearance
Some spiders can be as big as a plate.
Some spiders can be as small as a pea.
Some spiders are good at hiding in the open.
This spider can blend in with the sand.
Photo from Pixabay is in the public domain.
This spider can blend in with the ground.
Some spiders are bright.
A male spider may be bright to show off to female spiders. Or a spider may be bright to make bugs think that it is a flower.