๐ฆ Animal world ๐ Insects and minibeasts
The spider
๐ In short
The spider is a small eight-legged animal that makes fine, strong threads like silk and weaves them into a beautiful web to catch insects. A spider isn't an insect, because insects have only six legs.
๐คฉ Did you know?
- There are more than 30 thousand kinds of spiders.
- A big tarantula can be about 25 centimeters across with its legs.
- Sailors have seen tiny flying spiders 300 kilometers from land.
- Spider silk is stronger than a steel thread of the same thickness.
๐ Find out more
๐ The clever web
A spider makes thread from glands at the end of its body and weaves its web with some sticky threads to trap insects. When a fly gets caught, the spider feels the vibration and rushes over.
๐ Why doesn't it stick to its web?
A spider knows which threads are sticky, so it avoids them and walks on the non-sticky ones, and it always cleans its legs.
๐ก Not all spiders spin webs
Some spiders pounce on their prey, and some hide in a hole with a trapdoor, then leap out at insects passing by.
๐ฏ Flying without wings!
Baby spiders climb somewhere high and let out a long thread that the wind carries like a balloon, so they fly very far.
๐ธ More pictures
๐งฉ Test yourself
1 How many legs does a spider have?
2 Why does a spider spin a web?
3 There are more than ?? thousand kinds of spiders.
4 Which picture shows โThe spiderโ?
๐ฆ Discover more
๐ท Picture sources: Wikimedia Commons
- Michael Gรคbler ยท CC BY-SA 3.0
- Michael Palmer ยท CC BY-SA 4.0
- Brocken Inaglory ยท CC BY-SA 4.0
- Shyamal ยท CC BY-SA 3.0
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