Spiders are not insects, they are classified as arachnids. Spiders have eight legs, and are most commonly brown, grey or black. A spider has no bones but its tough skin serves as a protective outer skeleton. A spider's body consists of the cephalothorax and the abdomen. Each of these sections has parts attached to it called appendages. A spider's eyes are on top and near the front of its head. Different species have different numbers of eyes and the size and position also varies. Most species have eight eyes, arranged in two rows of four each. Hunting spiders have good eyesight at short distances and their eyesight allows them to form images of their prey and mates. Web-building spiders have poor eyesight and their eyes are used for detecting changes in light. Below the spider's eyes is its mouth opening. Spiders eat only liquids because they do not have chewing mouth parts. Around the mouth are various appendages which form a short ‘straw’ through which the spider sucks the body fluid of its victim. A spider has four pairs of legs, which are attached to its cephalothorax and each leg has seven segments. In most kinds of spiders, the tip of the last segment has two or three claws. Surrounding the claws is a pad of hairs called the scopula. The scopula sticks to smooth surfaces and helps the spider walk on ceilings and walls. Spider’s legs are impervious to pesticides, thus making them difficult to control. Each species of spider lives a different life. Many kinds of spiders live for only a year. Large wolf spiders live several years and some female tarantulas have lived for up to 20 years in captivity. Spiders become adults at different times of the year. Some mature in the fall and then mate and die during the winter. Others live through the winter, mate in the spring, and then die. As soon as a male spider matures, it seeks a mate. Most male spiders perform courtship activities that identify themselves and attract the females. After mating, the female will lay her eggs several weeks or even months later. The number of eggs that a spider lays at one time varies with the size of the spider. An average sized female lays about 100 eggs but some of the largest spiders lay more than 2,000 eggs. One of the most dangerous spiders in this area is the brown recluse. The reason it is so dangerous is that it can be living right beside you and you will never know it because they do not build conventional webs. There webs tend to be wispy threads of webs that have no real pattern. They prefer dark undisturbed places and often reside in very small cramped places such as shoes that have not been worn lately, under furniture and beds and in clothing that has been left on the floor or hanging undisturbed for long periods. They tend to be noctural hunters and can move very fast and even hop when necessary. They are feared because their bite dissolves tissue and can under some circumstances cause major damage by literally eating a hole in the flesh sometimes as deep as the bone in the affected area.

Black widows are notorious spiders identified by the colored, hourglass-shaped mark on their abdomens. Several species answer to the name, and they are found in temperate regions around the world. This spider's bite is much feared because its venom is reported to be 15 times stronger than a rattlesnake's. In humans, bites produce muscle aches, nausea, and a paralysis of the diaphragm that can make breathing difficult; however, contrary to popular belief, most people who are bitten suffer no serious damage—let alone death. But bites can be fatal—usually to small children, the elderly, or the infirm. Fortunately, fatalities are fairly rare; the spiders are nonaggressive and bite only in self-defense, such as when someone accidentally sits on them. The animals most at risk from the black widow's bite are insects—and male black widow spiders. Females sometimes kill and eat their counterparts after mating and thus the name Black Widow. Black widows are solitary year- round except during this violent mating ritual. These spiders spin large webs in which females suspend a cocoon with hundreds of eggs. Spiderlings disperse soon after they leave their eggs, but the web remains. Black widow spiders also use their webs to ensnare their prey, which consists of flies, mosquitoes, grasshoppers, beetles, and caterpillars. Black widows are comb-footed spiders, which means they have bristles on their hind legs that they use to cover their prey with silk once it has been trapped.

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