Introduction to Spiders
All
spiders are carnivorous and either actively hunt their prey, usually insects,
or build webs to trap their prey. Spiders differ from insects in many ways.
They have eight legs, no antennae, and no external sex organs. Male spiders
have specially enlarged palps, the small appendages seen near the mouth
of the spider to the left. They transfer their sperm to the bulb on the
end of the palp which is used for mating with the female. Most spiders are
quite small. The spiders I have shown could easily fit on a dime (12mm).
The first series of photographs show a spider stalking and then killing
a smaller spider, the other photos show a web spinner hiding in her web.