There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise: The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces. — Proverbs 30:24, 28 The littlest spider grasped her thread in her hands and spun her web between the branches of a tree. She wove the thread back […]

“Help! Help!” yelled Amy from the basement. Her brother Caleb ran down the steps. “What’s the matter?” “A spider! See him there in the corner?” Amy shook with fear. “Kill it! Kill it! Spiders have poison!” Her voice turned into a shriek. Caleb put his hands in his pockets and stepped near the corner. Cobwebs […]

Spiders are small animals that spin silk webs. They use their webs as nets to catch and eat insects. They can even catch insects that are bigger than themselves, such as a grasshopper. Many people are afraid of spiders, and kill any they find, but there are only six spiders in North America that can […]

In this present article we will discuss the so-called “courtship of spiders,” some interesting kinds of spiders, and some interesting facts concerning spiders. In the webless spiders such as the runners and jumpers, the male usually has elaborate feelers (palpi) which he displays prominently, waving them back and forth in semaphore fashion when courting the […]

We stated in last month’s article that we planned to resume the study of the spider. We also said that we would discuss the spider group from the aspect of the general characteristics by which spiders are distinguished from other animal groups and by discussing the various spider groups. This we will do to a […]

The spider spins his silver thread With quiet industry, To weave himself a gossamer bed That breathes of artistry. Though wind and rain may come to tear His fragile world apart, Still with steady patient care He makes another start. Against such odds as would confound The minds of mortal men The spider weaves, without […]

Formidable is this creature small, As in her web the victims fall; Attired in her dress of black, With ruthlessness she makes attack, The poisonous drop she then secretes, The prey is doomed and death it meets. In a dusty corner of an old woodshed or among the rafters of an attic, one frequently finds […]

“There was no bud, no bloom upon the bowers; The spiders wove their thin shrouds night by night; The thistle-down, the only ghost of flowers, Sailed slowly by—passed noiseless out of sight.” Thomas B. Read.   Dawn breaks.  Now the little weaver cautiously retreats, for during those long hours of darkness she has ceaselessly been […]