The Little Book of Spiders (Little Books of Nature)

Cover
Contents
Introduction
1. Evolution
	Arachnid ancestors
	Rock fossil spiders
	Life on land
	Fossils in amber
	Aerial webs
	Spiders are everywhere
2. Structures
	Spider brains
	A skeleton on the outside
	How spiders breathe
	Heart and circulation
	Fluid feeders
	Huge appetite
3. Sensing the World
	Keeping upright
	“Listening” in webs
	“Listening” on the ground
	“Listening” in the air
	Amazing eyes
	Sniffing perfumes
4. Successful Silk
	Building an orb web
	Liquid gold
	Hanging by a thread
	Protective cocoons
	Spiders can fly
	Ant eaters
5. Reproduction
	Sperm webs and eggs
	Courting with and without gifts
	Males fighting males
	Females figuring out males
	Mating with cannibals
	Maternal instincts
6. Overpowering Prey  with Venom
	Spider syringes
	A painful experiment
	Stopped in their tracks
	People and venoms
	Unusual prey
	Flesh-dissolving spider venom
7. Hunting with a Web
	Bowl and doily web
	Wall of webs
	A smelly moth trap
	Trap doors
	Slingshot spiders
	Casting a net
8. Hunting without a Web
	Portia: a spider-eating-spider
	Fishing spiders
	Spitting spiders
	As still as a statue
	Wolf spiders
	A vampire-killing spider
9. Spider Enemies
	Saved by a spider sculpture
	Staying off the menu
	Saved by bird droppings
	Spinning out of control
	From burrow to deadly bath
	A tarantula’s worst nightmare
10. Extraordinary Lives
	Escaping danger
	Spider influencers
	Tool-using spider
	Cutting-edge spider research
	Living with spiders
	Appreciating the elderly
11. Spider Folklore
	The story of Arachne
	Robert the Bruce
	Tarantism
	Weaving Charlotte’s web
	Spider myths and medicine
	Tarantulas at the movies
12. Curious Facts
	An almost vegetarian spider
	Spider superpowers
	Spiders can count
	Enormous orb web
	No venom, no problem
	Social spiders
Glossary
Further Reading
Index
Acknowledgments