This is one of my wife’s favorite spider books. Yes, that’s a real spider on the cover. To quote from the back cover (including the Australian spelling): Few animals rival spiders in their diversity of forms and colour, ecological abundance and importance, and complexity of behaviours. Spiders have inspired awe in . . . naturalists and at the same time are feared by many. Instead of gorgeous colors, some have the most astonishing camouflage, while still others employ incredible mimicry. Although tens of thousands of different species of spider have so far been identified, scientists believe there are still literally tens of thousands of species yet to be discovered. Species differ in the number of eyes (usually six or eight) and in the distribution of those eyes on their body. It is said that it is rare for any human to ever be more than ten feet from a spider and that, on average, an acre of land has a million spiders. Spiders have even been found in the sky four miles above the surface of the earth where they feed on tiny bits of vegetation that has blown up there. You might know that spider silk intrigues scientists because, if they could only figure out how to replicate it, the silk would have a wide range of valuable uses to us humans. What you might not know, however, is that each spider produces several different types of silk (up to seven or more) that vary chemically and have very different mechanical properties. One type is used for mating, another for anchoring the web, another for the body of the web, another for wrapping the prey, and so on. Spider webs are not just sticky but electrically conducive, causing the web to spring toward prey. The largest webs have spanned rivers, cover more than thirty square feet and have anchor lines over eighty feet long. It is calculated that if a web were made using spider silk as thick as a pencil, it would stop a jumbo jet in flight. We all know of spiders that passively trap prey in a stationary web but did you know that, instead of this, net-casting spiders weave a tiny web that they carry between their front legs and catch prey by striking them with their silken net? Some spiders have venom that could kill a human but has little effect on cats and dogs. There are at least nine million different spider-venom peptides, each of which has different properties. Many of these have exciting medicinal possibilities for blocking chronic pain. They are also being eagerly analyzed and researched as a possible treatment for muscular dystrophy, cancer, stroke recovery, Alzheimer’s, erectile dysfunction, prevention of heart fibrillation, and so on. “Venom toxins are among the most potent and precision-targeted molecules on Earth,” says Dr Zoltan Takacs, founder of the World Toxin Bank. “An absolute pharmacological goldmine,” is how Glenn King describes the venom of just one spider species. Spider venom also has potential for the development of species-specific pesticides that would aid food production, not only by eradicating pests but by ensuring the survival of helpful insects. Using spider-venom peptides as a method of killing disease-carrying mosquitoes is another possibility that is being seriously investigated. Less people in the tropics fear spiders, even though this is where more large and hairy spiders live. In many species, female spiders are larger than males; in some species as much as ten times bigger. Whereas we have red blood that uses an iron compound to transport oxygen, spiders have blue blood that relies on a copper compound for this critical task. (Many different sources have been used for the above, including a cautious use of https://www.factretriever.com/spider-facts ) Back