Biology Of Spiders

Download or read book Biology of Spiders written by Rainer Foelix and published by OUP USA. This book was released on 2011-05-05 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the only books to treat the whole spider, from its behavior and physiology to its neurobiology and reproductive characteristics, Biology of Spiders is considered a classic in spider literature. First published in German in 1979, the book is now in its third edition, and has established itself as the supreme authority on these fascinating creatures. Containing five hundred new references, this book incorporates the latest research while dispelling many oft-heard myths and misconceptions that surround spiders. Of special interest are chapters on the structure and function of spider webs and silk, as well as those on spider venom. A new subchapter on tarantulas will appeal especially to tarantula keepers and breeders. The highly accessible text is supplemented by exceptional, high-quality photographs, many of them originals, and detailed diagrams. It will be of interest to arachnologists, entomologists, and zoologists, as well as to academics, students of biology, and the general reader curious about spiders.

Download or read book The Biology of Camel-Spiders written by Fred Punzo and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: My initial interest in the Solifugae (camel-spiders) stems from an incident that occurred in the summer of 1986. I was studying the behavioral ecology of spider wasps of the genus Pepsis and their interactions with their large theraphosid (tarantula) spider hosts, in the Chihuahuan Desert near Big Bend National Park, Texas. I was monitoring a particular tarantula burrow one night when I noticed the resident female crawl up into the burrow entrance. Hoping to take some photographs of prey capture, I placed a cricket near the entrance and waited for the spider to pounce. Suddenly, out of the comer of my eye appeared a large, rapidly moving yellowish form which siezed the cricket and quickly ran off with it until it disappeared beneath a nearby mesquite bush. So suddenly and quickly had the sequence of events occurred, that I found myself momentarily startled. With the aid of a headlamp I soon located the intruder, a solifuge, who was already busy at work macerating the insect with its large chelicerae (jaws). When I attempted to nudge it with the edge of my forceps, it quickly moved to another location beneath the bush. When I repeated this maneuver, the solifuge dropped the cricket and lunged at the forceps, gripping them tightly in its jaws, refusing to release them until they were forcefully pulled away.

Download or read book A Spider’s World written by Friedrich G. Barth and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-09 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spiders are wonderful creatures. Their varied and complex range of behavior and highly developed sensory systems are excellently adapted to the environmental conditions - as is proven by their evolutionary success. Over 400 million years, spiders have developed their sensory organs to a fascinating technical perfection and complexity. In his intriguing book, Professor Friedrich G. Barth puts this technical perfection into the context of "biology", in which the interaction between environment and sensory organs and the selectivity of the senses as a link between environment and behavior play a major role.

Download or read book Whip Spiders written by Peter Weygoldt and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2021-10-25 with total page 163 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Whip spiders (Amblypygi) can be large and terrifying animals with strong, raptorial pedipalps and long antenniform first legs that can produce a span of as much as 60 cm. Others are small and scarcely span 5 cm. They all lead a secretive nocturnal life and are extremely dangerous to other arthropods and small vertebrates. In contrast to spiders and scorpions, they are of no commercial, economic or medical importance and they are difficult to study in the field because of their nocturnal habits, possible reasons why they have been greatly neglected until recently, by scientists and naturalists. Whip spiders represent an old group that dates back to the Carboniferous period. Their partly primitive and partly derived morphological characters and habits make the study of these animals interesting, while observation of their behaviour greatly increases our knowledge and understanding of arachnids in general. In this book the author describes their morphology and systematics, their life history, their fascinating sensory biology, their complex mating dances and reproductive biology, and their ecology and distribution. Thus he has made a significant contibution to a better understanding of the morphology and biology of the Arachnida as a whole. Whip Spiders is an outstanding contribution to science and it will be of interest for anyone with an interest in Arachnida and for those keeping and breeding spiders.

Download or read book Spiders of the World written by Norman I. Platnick and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spiders of the World explores the huge diversity of spider species and their fascinating traits, with profiles of 117 families accompanied by expert commentary and beautiful photographs.

Download or read book A Spider’s Web written by Peter N. Witt and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Gradually, a faint brightness appeared in the east, and the air, which had been very warm through the night, felt cool and chilly. Though there was no daylight yet, the darkness was diminished, and the stars looked pale. The prison, which had been a mere black mass with little shape or form, put on its usual aspect; and ever and anon a solitary watchman could be seen upon its roof, stopping to look down upon the preparations in the street . . . By and by the feeble light grew stronger, and the houses with their sign-boards and inscriptions stood plainly out, in the dull grey morning . . . And now, the sun's first beams came glancing into the street; and the night's work, which, in its various stages and in the varied fancies of the lookers-on had taken a hundred shapes, wore its own proper form - a scaffold and a gibbet . . . " (The Complete Works of Charles Dickens, Harper & Brothers, New York and London, Barnaby Rudge, Vol. II, Chapter XIX, page 164. ) Dickens describes an activity which takes place in the early morning hours, just before sunrise. As the day begins and people start to go about their business and get ready to watch the hanging, the hangman is ready with the gallows.

Download or read book Spider Behaviour written by Marie Elisabeth Herberstein and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2011-01-27 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spiders are often underestimated as suitable behavioural models because of the general belief that due to their small brains their behaviour is innate and mostly invariable. Challenging this assumption, this fascinating book shows that rather than having a limited behavioural repertoire, spiders show surprising cognitive abilities, changing their behaviour to suit their situational needs. The team of authors unravels the considerable intra-specific as well as intra-individual variability and plasticity in different behaviours ranging from foraging and web building to communication and courtship. An introductory chapter on spider biology, systematics and evolution provides the reader with the necessary background information to understand the discussed behaviours and helps to place them into an evolutionary context. Highlighting an under-explored area of behaviour, this book will provide new ideas for behavioural researchers and students unfamiliar with spiders as well as a valuable resource for those already working in this intriguing field.