spider (spider)

[An altered form of * spither, ME. spither, dat. spithre, pinnā, MHG. G. spinne, a spi da, of which there are many families, hundreds of genera, and you sands of species, species, found all over the world. Though popularly considered insects, spiders are not true Insect a, since they have eight instead of only six legs, normally seven-jointed, and no wings are developed. They are dimerosomatous - that is, have the Female of Latrodectus mactans, enlarged one quarter. a, under side of abdomen. body divided into two principal regions, the cephalo thorax, head and chest together, and the abdomen, which is generally tumid or globose, whence the name Sphærogastra. No antennæ are developed as such, but there are rap to rial organs called falces, which subchelate that is, have a distal joint folding down on the next like the blade of a pocket knife. (See cut under falx. ) In those species which are poisonous the falces are traversed by the duct of a venom-gland. Some spiders are by far the most venomous animals in existence in proportion to their size: that the bite of a spider can be fatal to man (and there are authentic instances of this) implies a venom vastly more powerful than that of the most poisonous snakes. (See katipo and Latrodectus.) Spiders breathe by means of pulmonary sacs, or lung-sacs, nearly always in connection with tracheæ or spiracles, whence they are called pulmo tracheal; these sacs are two or four in number, whence a division of spiders into dip neum on ous and tet rap neum on ous araneids. (See Dip neum ones, 2, Tet rap neum ones.) Most spiders belong to the former division. They have 5. In mach.: ( a ) A skeleton of radiating spokes, as a rag-wheel. (b) The internal frame or skeleton of a gear-wheel, for instance, on which a cogged rim may be bolted, shrunk, or cast. (c) The solid interior part of a piston, to which the packing is attached, and to whose axis the piston-rod is secured. E. H. Knight . -6. Naut ., an iron outrigger to keep a block clear of the ship's side. Geometrical spider. See geometric. - Gra -spider, one of many different spiders, as species of A galena, which spin webs on the gra , such as may be seen spangled with dew in the morning in meadows. -Round-web spider, one of many or bite lari an spiders, as species of Epeira (see, also, cut under cro spider ). - Spider couching. See couching1, 5.-Trapdoor spider. See Cteniza, Mygalidæ, trap - door, and cut under Araneid a. (See also bird - spider, crab -spider, diving spider, garden - spider, house - spider, jumping - spider, sea spider, silk - spider, water - spider, wolf - spider.) spider-ant (spi'der-ant), n. A solitary ant of the family Mutillidæ: so called from the spider-like aspect of the females. spider-band (spīder-band), n. Naut., an iron hoop round a mast to which the lower ends of the futtock-shrouds are secured; also, a hoop round a mast provided with belaying-pins. See cut under futtock - shrouds. spider-bug (spi'der-bug), n. A long-legged heteropterous insect of the family Emesidæ, Emesa longipes, somewhat resembling a spider. See cut under stick - bug. [U. S.] spider-catcher (spi'der-kach"èr), n. A bird IMG:content-1737.jpg:[ocr errors][merged small] that catches spiders. Specifically-(a) The wall creeper, Tichodro ma muraria. See cut under Ticho droma. (b) pl. The genus A rach no the ra in a broad sense, numerous species of which inhabit the Indo-Malayan region. They are small creeper-like birds with long bills, and belong to the family Nectariniidæ. Also called spider - eaters and spider-hunters. ( Nops ) only two. The abdomen is always distinct, ordinarily globose, never segmented, and provided with two or more pairs of spinnerets. (See cut under arachnidium.) The characteristic habit of spiders is to spin webs to catch their prey, or to make a nest for themselves, or for both these purposes. Cobweb is a fine silky substance secreted by the arachnidium, or arachnidial glands, and conducted by ducts to the several, usually six, arachnidial mammillæ, which open on papillæ at or near the end of the abdomen, and through which the viscid material is spun out in fine go amer threads. Go amer or spider-silk serves not only to construct the webs, but also to let the spider drop speedily from one place to another, to throw a "flying bridge" acro an interval, or even to enable some species to "fly"-that is, be buoyed up in the air and wafted a great distance. It has occasionally been woven artificially into a textile fabric, and is a well-known domestic application for stanching blood. (See cut under silk - spider. ) Some spiders are sedentary, others vagabond; the former are called or bite lari an, retitelarian, tubitelarian, etc., according to the character of their webs. Spiders move by running in various directions, or by leaping; whence the vagabond species have been described as recti grade, later i grade, citigrade, saltigrade, etc. They lay numerous eggs, usually inclosed in a case or cocoon. The male is commonly much smaller than the female, and in impregnating the female runs great risk of being devoured. The difference in size is as if the human female should be some 60 or 70 feet tall. (See cut under silk - spider.) Spiders are carnivorous and highly predatory. Some of the largest kinds are able to kill small birds, whence the name bird - spiders of some of the great hairy mygalids. (See cut under bird spider.) A few are aquatic, as the water-spiders of the genus Argyroneta (which see, with cut). Wolf-spiders or tarantulas belong to the family Lycosidæ; but the name tarantula is more frequently applied to the Mygalidæ (or Theraphosidæ). The common garden-spider or diadem spider of Europe is Epeira diadem at a; that of the United States is E. cophinaria (or riparia ). See Araneid a, and cuts under chelicera, cro - spider, pulmonary, and tarantula. My brain, more busy than the labouring spider , Weaves tedious snares to trap mine enemies. Shak., 2 Hen. VI., iii. 1. 339. cells. IMG:content-1738.png:[blocks in formation] ily Maiidæ, such as Maia squinado, the common spinous spider-crab of Great Britain, and species of Libinia, Inachus, etc. The giant Japanese spider-crab, Macrochira kaemp fer i, is the largest crustacean. See cuts under Lep to podia, Lithodes, Maia, and Oxyrhyncha. pider-diver (spi'der-diver), n. The little grebe, or dab IMG:content-1739.png:[merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small] IMG:content-1740.jpg:[graphic] IMG:content-1741.jpg:[graphic] A Spider-monkey ( Ateles panisc us). likened to a spider by reason of the very long and slim limbs, and long prehensile tail. They are large slender-bodied monkeys of great agility and of arboreal habits, with the thumb absent or imperfect. Brachy teles (or Eriodes ) a rach no ides is a Brazilian spider-monkey called the miriki. Ateles panisc us is the large black spider monkey, or coiata; A. melanochir is the black-handed spider-monkey; and many more species or varieties of this genus have been named. One of the spider-monkeys, 4. vell eros us, is among the most northerly of American monkeys, extending into Mexico to Orizaba and Oajaca. The flesh of some species is used for food, and the pelts have a commercial value. See also cut under Eriodes.