Spider

Spider

Description

An arthropod member of the order of Arachnida. Spiders are distinct from insects in that they have eight legs (not 6) and a two-part body (not 3). About 34,000 species of spiders exist with some on every continent in the world. Spiders spin a strong silk thread as a snare for their prey. They feed almost entirely on insects. The presence of spiders in a storage area usually indicates that insects are also present. Spiders, however, do not pose any danger to artifacts themselves.

Authority

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998

• Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com Comment: 'spider' Encyclopædia Britannica [Accessed February 26, 2002].