GC: n
S: UC Riverside – https://spiders.ucr.edu/ (last access: 19 August 2024); Penn – https://ento.psu.edu/outreach/extension/insect-image-gallery/spiders (last access: 19 August 2024).
N: 1. late 14c., spydyr, spither, earlier spiþre, spiþur, spiþer (mid-14c.), from Old English spiðra, from Proto-Germanic *spin-thron- (cognate with Danish spinder), etymologically “spinner,” from PIE root *(s)pen- “to draw, stretch, spin” + formative or agential *-thro. The connection with the root is more transparent in other Germanic cognates, such as Middle Low German, Middle Dutch, Middle High German, German spinne, Dutch spin “spider.”
Not the common word in Old or Middle English, which identified the creatures as loppe (Chaucer’s usual word), lobbe. Old English also had atorcoppe (Middle English attercop, literally “poison-head”), and (from Latin aranea), renge; Middle English had araine, “spider,” via Old French from the same Latin word (see arachnid). Another Old English word was gangewifre “a weaver as he goes.”
In literature, often a figure of cunning, skill, and industry as well as venomous predation; in 17c. English used figuratively for venomousness and thread-spinning but also sensitivity (to vibrations), lurking, and independence. As the name for a type of two-pack solitaire, it is attested from 1890, probably based on resemblance of the layout of the decks in the original form of the game (see “Tarbart,” “Games of Patience,” 1901, p. 49).
Spider crab is from 1710, used of various species with long, slender legs and comparatively small bodies; the spider monkey (1764) is so called for its long limbs. Spider-catcher (1570s) was an old vague term of abuse.
2. spider. Also known as: Araneae, Araneida.
- spider, (order Araneida or Araneae), any of more than 46,700 species of arachnids that differ from insects in having eight legs rather than six and in having the body divided into two parts rather than three. The use of silk is highly developed among spiders. Spider behaviour and appearance are diverse, and the araneids outside Europe, Japan, and North America have not been thoroughly collected and studied.
- All spiders are predators, feeding almost entirely on other arthropods, especially insects. Some spiders are active hunters that chase and overpower their prey. These typically have a well-developed sense of touch or sight. Other spiders instead weave silk snares, or webs, to capture prey. Webs are instinctively constructed and effectively trap flying insects. Many spiders inject venom into their prey to kill it quickly, whereas others first use silk wrappings to immobilize their victims.
3. General features – Size range
- Spiders range in body length from 0.5 to about 90 mm (0.02–3.5 inches). The largest spiders are the hairy mygalomorphs, commonly referred to as tarantulas, which are found in warm climates and are most abundant in the Americas. Some of the largest mygalomorphs include the goliath bird-eating spider (Theraphosa leblondi or T. blondi), found in parts of the Amazon, and the pinkfoot goliath (T. apophysis), limited to southern Venezuela. The smallest spiders belong to several families found in the tropics, and information about them first became known in the 1980s.
- Female spiders generally are much larger than males, a phenomenon known in animals as sexual size dimorphism. Many female orb weavers, such as those in the families Tetragnathidae and Araneidae, show extreme size dimorphism, being at least twice the size of males of the same species. The extreme difference in body size appears to have arisen through selection processes favouring fecundity in females and “bridging” locomotion in males. Bridging is a technique used by spiders for orb web construction; the spider produces a silk thread that is carried by the wind and becomes attached to an object, forming a bridge. Small, light males can build and traverse silk bridges more rapidly than larger, heavier males can. Scientists suspect that this gives small males more mating opportunities, thereby favouring selection for their small size.
4. Myth: Spiders are insects.
Fact: Actually, not everyone believes this. Around half of my callers did learn in school that spiders are not insects, but I find it rather appalling that the percentage is not higher. And how often, in mass media, we read or hear a phrase like “spiders prey on other insects!”
Anyway, spiders belong to the Class Arachnida, insects to the Class Insecta. Arachnids are as distant from insects, as birds are from fish. It really is not a trivial distinction!
One correspondent absolutely insisted that spiders are correctly called insects… because his dictionary said so! I’d call such faith touching but somewhat out of touch with reality.
5. Cultural Interrelation: We can mention the comic Amazing Fantasy vol 1 15 (1962) by Steve Ditko, Stan Lee, Marvel. Issue 15 of Marvel’s Amazing Fantasy features the first appearance of Spider–man.
We can also refer to the novel
S: 1. Etymonline – https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=spider (last access: 19 August 2024). 2 & 3. EncBrit – https://www.britannica.com/animal/spider-arachnid/Size-range (last access: 19 August 2024). 4. BurkeMus – https://www.burkemuseum.org/collections-and-research/biology/arachnology-and-entomology/spider-myths/myth-spiders-are-insects (last access: 19 August 2024). 5. Internet Archive – https://archive.org/details/Amazing_Fantasy_vol1_15_201607 (20 August 2024); Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/Alfred-Hitchcock-Investigators-Mystery-Silver/dp/0394837711 (19 August 2024); HPfandom – https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Aragog (20 August 2024).
SYN:
S:
CR: arachnid, arachnophobia, black widow, brown recluse spider, daddy longlegs, mygale, spider crab, tarantula.
