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Article: Come into my parlor. (facts about spiders)(For Your Information.)
- Article from:
- Popular Science
- Article date:
- September 1, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Bonnier Corporation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Wherever you are, you're never more than three feet from a spider. Scary. Actually, spiders are generally harmless to humans, and they play an important role in controlling insect pests. But whether you find spiders to be worthwhile or worrisome, they are wondrous creatures.
- compiled by Mariette DiChristina
The word spider comes from the Old English verb "spinnen," or "to spin."
Some 34,000 species of spiders are known to exist, compared with 4,600 known species of mammals.
Spiders are arachnids, which have eight Legs and two distinct body parts - a cephalothorax (prosoma) and an abdomen (opisthosoma). The cephalothorax, which combines head ...