Incy Wincy Spider …

Today we are focusing on arachnids, specifically spiders.  Here’s a little confession.  One of the Kawaii Animals team (me!) is rather arachnophobic … but that doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate they are fascinating creatures.  Here are some spidery facts:

• There are over 20,000 species of spider and the spider lives all over the world … apart from Antarctica. All have 8 legs and they are arthropods which means that they have no backbone.
• A little fact for my fellow arachnophobes … all spiders apart from one family of spider species are venomous.  The members of the Uloboridae spider family do not possess venom glands.
• Another disconcerting fact for those who are afraid of spiders is that they are the placed at number 7 when it comes to diversity in their populations.
• Whilst we are on the subject of being afraid of spiders, arachnophobia is one of the most common fears in the world.  It affects approximately 10% of men and around 50% of women.  The severity of the fear can vary!
• All spiders produce silk but different species of spiders use their silk in different ways.  Not all spiders produce webs. Wolf spiders and Jumping spiders don’t bother to produce webs as they stalk and pounce on their prey.
• There is apparently one species of spider that has been identified as vegetarian: Bagheera kiplingi.  This species of spider lives in Central America and Mexico and lives on acacia plants. Whilst we understand that it’s remarkable that it is a vegetarian spider we think the most remarkable thing about this creature is its name! Someone was obviously a big fan of The Jungle Book.
• Spiders use blood pressure rather than muscle power to move around.  They have their own hydraulic system!
• The largest spider is the Giant Bird Eating Spider and in terms of leg-span this honour goes to the Huntsman spider.  The smallest spider is the Patu Digua which lives in Colombia.
• When a spider moves there are always four legs on the surface and four off the surface of whatever they are walking on.
• The Brazilian Wandering spider, or Banana spider, is the most poisonous of all spiders.
• And, lastly, our favourite fact of all … the blood of a spider is light blue in colour.

Thanks to the internet for these amazing facts especially About.com and Science Kids.

Even though we will admit to spiders not being our favourite creatures, our favourite superhero has always been Spiderman.  This is also one of the few times in literature or films where the spider has been portrayed positively!

We do have a couple of slightly more cuddly spiders in our range. Click here to see them.

We do have a couple of spiders in our collection