1. Golden orb weaver Spider
They are the root cause of the commonest phobia on the planet, yet they are undoubtedly among the greatest architects of engineering wonders in nature. 8,000,000 spiders can be found, on average, on every acre of land on earth.
Spider web
When you see that ‘diamond’ encrusted, complex web of engineering skill that has been put in place overnight on a tree in the back garden, take a moment to gaze in awe.
Dewy web
These builders produce silk threads which thickness for thickness, have an unbelievably high breaking strain. This silk is usually only about 0.002mm wide, and so light that a strand stretching around the world would weigh less than 6 oz. It is so fine that has been used in the manufacture of telescopic gun-sights. To give a clear idea of how strong it is, remember that the morning dew which makes the web sparkle represents a weight at least 1000 times heavier than the web itself.
2. Jumping spider
Spiders belong to the ‘Arachnid’ class of animals This word comes from the Greek and means ‘jointed foot’. The first Arachnid known of is believed to have been Scorpion like about 500 million years ago, so they have been around much longer than humanity. Of the 80,000 known species only 25 carry venom dangerous to humans.
3. Wolf spider
For most spiders the poison is used to stun or kill their insect prey, not to attack people. The two best known poisonous spiders in the U.S. A are the Black Widow and the Brown Recluse. Neither of these has been proven to have caused any deaths in more than twenty years.
4. Female Black widow
So what makes these, for some terrifying, creatures such formidable engineers? Take the ‘trapdoor’ and ‘purseweb’ varieties for example. Each constructs an elaborate underground trap. The ‘purseweb’ builds a silk tube in the ground, closed at both ends. The top bit of the tube sticks out of the ground. When an insect lands on this, it is stabbed through the mesh by the spider and taken down into the tube to be digested, once the new hole in the trap has been repaired.
5. Funnel web
The ‘trapdoor’ on the other hand, makes a silken pit, at the top of which is a silk door, propped open by the spider. When an insect strays too close, it falls in and the door is firmly closed, so the spider can eat at leisure. Spiders do also eat other spiders. Females sometimes eat their mates, even while they are mating. Some spiders hunt down others, having evolved ways to grab them, even when they are in the centre of their webs.
6. Leaf spider
Another amazing variety is named the ‘Spitting Spider’ because of the way in which it attacks prey. It projects a spray as far as 10mm, made up of a solution of gum and poison. This mixture cements the prey in position, allowing the slow spider to close in and deliver its fatal bite. One species has even taken to living underwater most of the time.
7. Wandering spider
The spider world does, have its giants – the Goliath bird-eating tarantula can easily be as large as dinner plates and have been known to take birds from their nests. This enormous, hairy coffee-colored beast is unmistakable, but by no means the only massive spider out there. Troops in Iraq have been coming across lots of Camel spiders, and running a mile but camel spiders they rarely attack humans.
8. Camel spiders
Then there are the infamous Tarantulas, which again have always had an unfairly bad press. They also present almost no threat to humans, though the sight of the hairy monsters scurrying along can be quite unsettling. It really does not matter whether you talk minute or massive spiders, when it comes to appreciating how well they cope with their environments and how resourceful they are. Spiders are the supermen of the insect world. Some silk made by orb weaver spiders is so tough that suggestions were forthcoming that it would be more effective than Kevlar in bullet-proof vests. Some South Pacific native people make fishing nets from spider silk.
9. Tarantula
These creatures have so much to offer us. A single spider eats about 2,000 insects a year, so they are really good to have around in the house and garden. Well over 99.99% of spiders are not remotely harmful to us, yet our irrational fear has us killing them by the boatload. Give it up for these hairy, scary, super engineers. They deserve more credit, no matter how terrifying they at first appear to be. The Goliath below looks awesome, but is far more afraid of you than you could ever be of it.
10. Goliath birdeater
