Some of the most diverse spider families include the familiar hairy, big-eyed "jumping spiders" (Family Salticidae, 4,400 species worldwide); the small "sheet-web spiders" (Linyphiidae, 3,700 species); the "orb weaving spiders" (Araneidae, 2,600 species); the "cobweb spiders" (Theridiidae, 2,200 species); the non-web weaving "wolf spiders" (Lycosidae, 2,200 species); and the "crab spiders" (Thomisidae, 2,000 species; Coddington and Levi, 1991).
Jumping spiders have good vision and use it for hunting and navigating. They are capable of jumping from place to place, secured by a silk tether. Both their book lungs and the tracheal system are well-developed, as they depend on both systems (bimodal breathing).
Most Sheet-Web Spiders weave sheet like webs and the spider hangs under the web. Above the sheets the spider inserts scaffolding of threads. Insects fly against these strands and falls onto the web where they are caught. The spider bites throught the web to paralyze her prey.
They are referred too as dwarf spiders. In the British Isles, they are called money spiders.
Generally, orb-weaving spiders are three-clawed builders of flat webs with sticky spiral capture silk. The building of a web is an engineering feat, begun when the spider floats a line on the wind to another surface. The spider secures the line and then drops another line from the center, making a "Y". The rest of the scaffolding follows with many radii of non-sticky silk being constructed before a final spiral of sticky capture silk. The third claw is used to walk on the non-sticky part of the web.
Cobweb Spiders can be difficult to distinguish from other kinds of web-building spiders, especially orb weavers. The main difference: webs made by cobweb spiders appear messy and disorganized, unlike the organized, circular webs made by orb-weavers and many other web-building spiders. In addition, cobweb spiders often have abdomens that are comparatively larger and more spherical than orb-weavers.
The wolf spiders are members of the family Lycosidae. Except for the genus Sosippus, these spiders do not use their silk to make a snare. Some use their silk to line a tubular tunnel in the ground. Some take regular shelter in natural crevices. Still others spend their entire lives wandering around with no fixed abode. Unlike many other spiders, they have good vision and they chase their prey. Some wolf spiders are very small, 0.2" or smaller, and others are rather large, 1" or more. Hogna carolinensis (the "Carolina wolf spider") is the largest U.S. species, with a body that can be more than one inch long. Female wolf spiders carry their eggs along with them in spherical, silk egg sacs attached to their spinnerets. After the eggs hatch, the multitude of tiny spiders climb onto their mother's abdomen, where she carries them for a considerable period of time.
Crab Spider, any member of several families of free-living spiders that resemble small crabs. Crab spiders have short, wide, flattened bodies. The first two or three pairs of legs are longer than the rest and are normally held out from the sides of the body as a crab would hold its claws. Some crab spiders can walk forward, backward, or sideways like fiddler crabs. Crab spiders do not spin webs to trap prey, but hunt on the open ground or on vegetation or flowers. Unlike other free-living spiders, however, all of a crab spider's eyes are small and serve primarily as motion detectors. Typical crab spiders are predators that lie in wait to ambush their prey. Though their chelicerae, or jaws, are rather small and slender, many crab spiders possess potent venoms that quickly immobilize their prey.
2006-07-01 22:11:34
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answer #1
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answered by elchistoso69 5
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hi
Brown Recluse
The brown recluse spider is not an established species in Florida, but physicians have diagnosed its bites. The brown recluse spider is recognized by having a dark violin-shaped mark located behind the eyes. There are 3 pair of eyes on this species while most spiders have 4 pair. The brown recluse is a medium-sized spider about 1/4 to 1/2 inch in length.
Tarantulas
Tarantulas are not found naturally in Florida; however, some people keep tarantulas as pets. The term "tarantula" refers to about 300 species of spiders some of which can weigh 2 to 3 ounces and have a 10 inch leg span. Tarantulas are sluggish, will not bite unless provoked, and are not poisonous. However, the bites of tarantulas can be quite painful since the fangs are large and cause considerable mechanical damage to the victim.
Widow Spiders
Four species of widow spiders occur in Florida: the southern black widow, the northern black widow, the red widow and the brown widow. All these species are rather large spiders about 1 1/2 inches long with the legs extended.
Dolomedes
The two species of the genus Dolomedes are very similar and are only found in or near damp places. Both are large robust spiders with a strong and imposing appearance. The adults will take large prey, including bluebottle flies, damselflies, and even small fishes which the spider attracts to the surface by vibrating the surface of the water with it's front legs. The males court the females by waving their front legs alternatively at them for a prolonged display which culminates in a very brief mating. The female will lay more than a 1000 eggs in two or more greenish sacs. The spiderlings are pale brown at first, becoming darker as they grow.These are the largest spiders found in Britain with the female gaining a size of 22 mm and the male only 10 - 13 mm. The males are more clearly marked than the females.
The Purseweb Spider
The female of this species grows to betweeen 10 - 15 mm with the male being about 7 - 9 mm. The purseweb spider builds a silken tube in the ground, closed at both ends, only the top part of the tube protrudes from the ground. When an insect lands on the tube it is stabbed through the mesh by the spider and taken down into the vertical section to be eaten, once the trap has been repaired.
dhaval
2006-07-02 05:07:21
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answer #2
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answered by Dhaval 2
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Spiderman:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiderman
Spider monkey:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_monkey
Spider (movie):
http://www.spiderthemovie.com/
Spider software:
http://www.artesyncp.com/products/cat-SpiderWare.html
Spider computer program:
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/s/spider.html
2006-07-02 04:40:52
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answer #3
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answered by Anonymous
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