Few creatures provoke extreme reactions quite like spiders. With fearsome reputations and hairy eight-legged bodies, their presence can bring out an almost primeval instinct in even the hardiest wildlife enthusiast. Yet spiders are marvels of nature. The silk they spin from abdominal spinnerets is light, elastic, can be strong enough to rival steel and has many more uses than web-making. All but one of the 40,000 species of spider are carnivorous. Spiders employ a range of techniques, from webs to ambush, to capture prey. Once subdued, their prey is liquidised before being consumed. Spiders range in size from the dinner-plate sized Goliath bird-eater tarantula to species the size of a pinhead.

Did you know?
Spider silk is stronger by weight than steel.


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