Sorry to say I missed Be Kind to Spiders Week - it was from April 1st onwards and I guess it is more of a UK event, but I thought I might just pop a few of my 'favourite' spider books here and also link you to some very comprehensive lists of spider books from my friend at Kinderbookswitheverything.
- October 6th 2025 Jumping Spider Day
- March 14th 2023 Save a Spider Day
- May 7th 2024 And so they build - Spiders
Really you can talk about spiders any time and we do have some interesting ones here in Australia - yes I am talking about the deadly ones like the redback and the funnel web, but we do have others too. There is one tiny guy who never gives up on my balcony - he builds his web to catch insects attracted to the light, I sweep his work away, he rebuilds and so it has been going on for over 25 years.
There are some terrific picture books that feature spiders and of course your library will have plenty of non-fiction titles. You could also revisit Charlotte's Web; The Magnificent Nose and other marvels and a new book which I adored called Growing Home by Beth Ferry.
- A single spider can consume about 2,000 insects a year. That’s a lot of free insect control they’re providing us!
- Some spiders have developed unique camouflage techniques to avoid predation by birds. For instance, crab spiders can change color to blend in with their surroundings, making them less visible to birds.
- There are over 45,000 known species of spiders, found in habitats ranging from rainforests to urban gardens. This makes them one of the most diverse creatures on the planet.
- Spiders are famous for their silk, a protein fiber they produce from spinnerets at the end of their abdomen. Spider silk is incredibly strong and elastic, and its uses vary from creating webs for catching prey to making cocoons for their offspring.
- Spiders do not have a circulatory system like mammals. Instead, they have a hemolymphatic system, and their ‘blood’ (hemolymph) flows freely through their body cavity, moved by their heart pumping in a peristaltic manner.
- Some spiders engage in a behavior called ballooning, where they release silk to catch the wind, allowing them to travel long distances through the air, sometimes covering hundreds of miles.
- While most spiders have eight eyes, some species have six, four, two, or even no eyes! The arrangement and size of these eyes can vary greatly and are often used to identify different spider families.
- The lifespan of spiders varies widely among species. Some may live for only a few months, while others, like certain types of tarantulas, can live for over 20 years.
- Some spiders, like the water spider (‘Argyroneta aquatica’), can live entirely underwater. They create an air bubble web, which acts like a diving bell, allowing them to breathe underwater!
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