HUNTING
SPIDERS
Most
spiders live on their own but a few species live in a family units
sharing webs and prey.
All
spiders are predatory and will even sometimes each one another.
Most
spiders live on insects which they have to catch in order to survive.
Many
spiders weave silken webs to catch their prey. In most spiders
the silk is produced from glands in the spider's abdomen.
Although
spiders spend hours making these webs they sometimes only catch
one fly every few days.
Spiders
often have to carry out repairs to their webs when they become
damaged.
You
can often tell the type of spider from the shape of the web.
The
web of the garden spider is wheel-shaped.
The
web of the field spider is a tangled mass of threads.
The
web of the house spider is a horizontal sheet.
All
spiders don't use a web to kill their prey.
Wolf-spiders
chase their prey.
Jumping
spiders hide and spring on their victims.
Some
spiders hide in flowers the same colour of themselves and wait
for visiting insects.
Some
spiders make silken tubes in the ground. It then catches worms,
snails and beetles through the walls of this silken tube.
Spiders
produce poison with which to overcome their prey. It also deters
predators who would eat them.
