25 Spider facts

  


8 Sentences that have spider facts and 8 Sentences that have spider opinions. Have your students sort the sentences into the correct fact or opinion pile.

I found this fact and opinion idea on teachers pay teachers Teaching with Terhune




                            SPIDER FACTS


Did you know ... During the 16th and 17th centuries, it was believed that a bite from a species of wolf spider (named tarantula, from the Taranto region in Italy) would be deadly if the victim did not dance to a specific type of frenzied music. It inspired a dance called the tarantella.

Here are a few other spider facts we found around the web.


1. Spiders are found on every continent of the world except Antarctica.

2. There are around 40000 different species of spider.

3. Most spiders make silk which they use to create spider webs and capture prey.

4. Most spiders are harmless to humans but a few spider species, such as the black widow, can bite humans and inject venom.

5. An estimated 1 million spiders live in one acre of land. The number might be closer to 3 million in the tropics. It is estimated that a human is never more than 10 feet away from a spider—ever.

6. Spiders eat more insects than birds and bats combined.

7. Spiders have blue blood. In humans, oxygen is bound to hemoglobin, a molecule that contains iron and gives blood its red color. In spiders, oxygen is bound to hemocyanin, a molecule that contains copper rather than iron.

8. The world’s biggest spider is the goliath spider (Theraphosa blondi). It can grow up to 11 inches wide, and its fangs are up to one inch long. It hunts frogs, lizards, mice, and even small snakes and young birds.

9. The world’s smallest spider is the Patu marplesi. It is so small that 10 of them could fit on the end of a pencil.

10. Arachnophobia is the fear of the spiders. It is one of the most common phobias in North America and Europe. Arachnophobia is less common in tropical places where there are more large, hairy spiders.

11. The word “spider” comes from the Old English word spithra and is related to the German spinne, both of which mean “spinner.” The word “spinster” is also related and means “one who spins thread.”

12. Hummingbirds use small sticks and the silk from spider webs to weave a nest for themselves.

13. Wolf spiders can run at speeds of up to 2 feet per second.

14. Spiders can’t fly, but they sometimes sail through the air on a line of silk, which is known as “ballooning."

15. Some male spiders give dead flies to the females as presents.

16. Water spiders are the only spiders that spend their entire lives in water. The spiders construct a “diving bell” that allows them to live and spin webs underwater. They use their legs like a fishing pole to pull in insects, tadpoles, and even small fish.

17. Hundreds of years ago, people put spider webs on their wounds because they believed it would help stop the bleeding. Scientists now know that the silk contains vitamin K, which helps reduce bleeding.

18. The Darwin bark spider creates the strongest material made by a living organism. Their giant webs can span rivers, streams, and even lakes and is 10 times stronger than Kevlar.

19. Scientists in the United States Defense Department are trying to copy gold orb weaver silk in order to use it for bulletproof vests.

20. It is a myth that a human will swallow an average of four (or any number) of spiders while sleeping during his or her life. It is highly unlikely a spider will ever end up in a sleeping human’s mouth.

21. According to Greek myth, a girl named Arachne could spin so well that the goddess Athena became jealous and turned her into a spider.

22. Most spiders live for about a year. However, some tarantulas live more than 20 years.

23. Unlike insects, spiders do not have antennas.

24. Most spiders found in homes have adapted to life indoors. They have little chance of surviving outdoors.

25. Spiders are blamed for all kinds of bumps, rashes, and growths. However, unlike mosquitoes or ticks, spiders don’t feed on human blood and they have no reason to bite a human unless they feel threatened or surprised.