🕷️ Spiders!

What you’ll learn

1. Spiders Are Not InsectsTell spiders apart from insects using legs, body parts, and other features.Spiders are arachnids, not insects. They have eight legs and two body parts, while insects have six legs and three body parts plus antennae and often wings. Most spiders have eight tiny eyes but see mainly by feeling movement, though jumping spiders have sharp eyesight.
2. The Magic Of SilkUnderstand what spider silk is, its many uses, and how a web traps prey.Spiders spin silk from liquid inside their bodies through spinnerets, and for its weight it is stronger than steel and can stretch. One spider makes several silks: dry spokes, sticky spirals, egg wrapping, and safety lines. A web works as a trap because the spider walks only on the non-sticky threads.
3. Clever Ways To HuntCompare the different hunting styles of jumping, trapdoor, and wolf spiders.Not all spiders build webs. Jumping spiders chase and leap on prey using sharp eyes and a silk safety line. Trapdoor spiders ambush from camouflaged burrows. Wolf spiders prowl the ground at night, and mothers carry their spiderlings on their backs.
4. Spider Superpowers And HelpersDiscover real spider superpowers and why spiders are important helpers.Some spiders 'balloon,' floating on silk carried by the wind to travel far and wide. Spiders eat enormous numbers of pest insects each year, protecting people and crops. Almost all spiders are harmless and would rather flee than fight, so the kindest thing is to leave them be or move them outside.

Questions this course answers

Grounded in trusted sources

• Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
• American Museum of Natural History
• Natural History Museum, London

Every Wunder lesson is built from real, reputable sources — never invented.

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