CONTENTS
11.
INTRODUCTION
12.
ARACHNIDS
13.
SPIDERS
15.
MORPHOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION OF SPIDERS
19.
NATURAL HISTORY OF SPIDERS
26.
MYGALOMORPHS
28.
ARANEOMORPHS
44.
SELECTED COMMON SPIDERS IN SRI LANKA
44. Mygalomorphs
46. Web-building Araneomorphs
66. Non-web-building Araneomorphs
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81.
SPIDERS AND MAN
83.
REFERENCES
84.
GLOSSARY
INTRODUCTION
Among the “phobias” that haunt the minds of humans, the fear of spiders, known as
“Arachnophobia”, stands foremost alongside that of the fear of snakes and bats. Unfortunately for
these innocent creatures that seek only their survival, folklore and legend has been most unkind,
propagating unfounded fears. Perhaps it is the very silence of the spiders and snakes, the lack of
audible communication, even their total silence as they undergo the throes of death, that strike fear
in the human mind of a creature from the underworld. Such is their reputations in most cultures of
the world.
Thought of as unattractive, virulently poisonous, repulsive, scary looking, foretellers of ill omen and
misfortune by the quirks of the human mind, yet they are fascinating, unique and highly developed
animals of great value as “bio-controllers” of the environment.
They are wonderful creations of nature and the objective of this book is to give an insight and
introduce the reader to the world of spiders, to help the reader to identify some common spiders
that are found in and around home gardens, also to understand and conserve this essential and
valuable creature of our environment.
The animal kingdom is divided into two major groups - the vertebrates and the invertebrates. The
vertebrates, like mammals, birds, reptiles, fish and amphibians have backbones and the invertebrates,
such as shellfish, starfish, sponges, worms, insects etc., do not have backbones. The Phylum
Arthropoda grouped under invertebrates is characterised by the presence of an exoskeleton and
paired segmented legs, and includes the insects (dragonflies, butterflies, etc.), the crustaceans (crabs
etc.), myriapods (centipedes and millipedes) and arachnids (spiders, scorpions etc.), among others.
Arthropods are the most successful Phylum of animals on earth and comprise of more than 750,000
known species.
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ARACHNIDS
The name of this group of arthropods commemorates Arachne, a legendary and foolhardy Greek
maiden who, challenging the goddess to equal her weaving skill, was changed into a spider and
condemned to weave forever.
In the same class as the spiders is a diverse group which includes scorpions, mites and ticks,
harvestmen, king-crabs and pseudo-scorpions, as they share certain aspects of their body structure.
The body has two parts; the cephalothorax (or prosoma) which is the head and thorax (which is the
fore part), often protected by a hard shield or carapace, and the abdomen (or opisthosoma) (which is
the hind part). The cephalothorax carries the various appendages, six pairs in all and jointed as in the
other arthropods. The last four pairs are legs. Unlike the insects, arachnids do not have antennae and
wings. They also have six to eight simple eyes and they produce young ones that resemble them and
mature through moulting.
Most arachnids are carnivores that feed on a wide range of prey. A bewildering variety of techniques
of catching their victim has evolved. This type of hunting behavior adds to the interest of the class
and, because so many use poison in the hunt, some danger to humans.
Horseshoe crab
Mites
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Tick
Whip scorpion
Harvestmen
Scorpion
SPIDERS
Spiders belong to the Order Araneae, which is divided into three Sub-orders, Mesothelae,
Mygalomorphae and Araneomorphae. Until recently the Mygalomorphae were referred to as
Orthognatha because of the nearly parallel alignment of their chelicerae, while the Araneomorphae
correspond to the former Labidognatha, which possess vertical chelicerae opposing each other. The
Mesothelae represent the phylogenetically oldest spiders because they exhibit clearly segmented
abdomen, as well as several other primitive characters. The Mygalomorphae comprise all the
tarantulas; their chelicerae lie almost parallel to each other, and their spinnerets are often reduced.
More than 90% of all spiders belong to the Araneomorphae (Labidognatha). Their classification
into higher taxa is still problematic. Formally, one classification separated the Cribellatae from the
Ecribellatae, based on the presence of a spinning plate (cribellum) situated in front of the spinnerets
as the distinguishing character of the Cribellatae. All Araneomorphae without such a cribellum were
grouped together as Ecribellatae. Nowadays it is generally assumed that all spiders were originally
cribellate, and that the ecribellate spiders evolved later by a reduction or loss of the cribellum.
However, several aspects remain unclear, such as possible parallel evolutions (convergences) among
cribellate and ecribellate spiders (Foelix, 2011).
Placement of fangs (source: http://science.howstuffworks.com)
Theraphosa blondi
Patu digua (source: http://science.howstuffworks.com)
Venom duct (source:http://science.howstuffworks.com)
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Spiders comprise of a large group of 40,000 recognised species in 110 families (Platnick, 2009),
which consist of about 3,700 genera and there are hundreds more yet been identified. They are
distributed all over the world on every continent except for Antarctica, and have conquered all
ecological environments found on earth with perhaps the exception of air and the open sea. Most
spiders are relatively small (2-10mm body length), yet some large tarantulas may reach a body length
of 80-90mm. The smallest spider recorded so far is Patu digua which is a mere 0.36 in body length
(small as the head of a pin) and the largest documented so far is Theraphosa blondi which has a body
length of 90mm with a leg span of 300mm (size of a dinner plate) (Foelix, 2011). Male spiders are
almost always smaller and have a shorter life span than females.
‘Eight legs and two parts to the body’ is the easiest method of identification of this group. The two
parts: anterior portion, the prosoma or cephalothorax, and the posterior part, the opisthosoma or
abdomen. These are connected by a narrow stalk, the pedicel. The prosoma’s functions are mainly
for locomotion, food uptake, and nervous integration (as the site of the central nervous system).
In contrast, the opisthosoma fulfills chiefly vegetative tasks: digestion, circulation, respiration,
excretion, reproduction, and silk production.
Spiders have a number of simple eyes, usually eight but some species have only six. The appendages
on the front of the head include a pair of fangs. These bear ducts from their venom glands, which
leads to an opening at the tip of each fang with which they effectively dispatch their prey. All spiders
are predaceous and feed largely on insects, though some are known to feed on birds, reptiles etc.
Spiders have different methods of capturing their prey, many are specialised snare builders (web
spiders) whereas the ground spiders or wandering spiders hunt their prey either by giving chase or by
ambush. After a spider seizes its prey with its chelicerae and injects venom, it liquefies tissues with a
digestive fluid and sucks the resulting broth into the stomach. Spiders with teeth at the base of their
chelicerae crush or chew prey. Digestion is aided by enzymes from their mouth (Hickman et al.,
2007).
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