Spiders

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Spiders

• Justin Knight

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Spiders in General

• Most spiders feed on small insects and occasional
  other arthropods
• Spiders cannot eat solid food, they suck out
  their victims body fluids and other soft tissues
  using powerful muscle contractions
• Spiders periodically shed their exoskeleton
  allowing them to grow, each species of spiders
  has a particular number of times it sheds the
  outer exoskeleton
• All spiders have the capability of creating the
  silk that most of us are familiar with of being
  webs, the silk is made of different proteins and
  amino acids
• After the male spiders mate they no longer have
  any interest in eating and die shortly after,
  instead of going to waste in many species of
  spiders the female consumes the dead male

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Peruvian Pinktoe (Avicularia urticans)

• Type of tarantula very common in the Peruvian
  rainforests
• Is approximately 6 in. across
• It builds a hammock shaped web and is very slow
  moving
• These spiders feed on a large diet of crickets
  and other small sized insects, some are able to
  eat anole lizards and small sized geckos
• Male pinktoes live only 2-4 years while a female
  can live as long as 12 years

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Peruvian Pinktoe
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Wolf Spider

• The wolf spider ranges in size from 1 cm up to 8
  cm
• The wolf spider depends on great eyesight to hunt
  their prey since they do not use the traditional
  web method they hunt and run down their prey
• If bitten most wolf spiders are completely
  harmless to humans, although it may cause some
  itching
• Their main diet is small insects

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Wolf Spiders
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Golden Silk Spider

• The golden silk spider does not get its name from
  the color of the spider but for the web it spins,
  the web has a goldish tint when the sunlight hits
  it
• The spider has a neurotoxin similar to that of
  the black widow, but not nearly as strong

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Golden Silk Spider