spiders

Spiders are predatory invertebrate animals that have two body segments, eight legs, no chewing mouth parts and no wings. They are classified in the order

Araneae, one of several orders within the larger

class of Arachnids, a group which also includes,

ticks, mites and scorpions.

Britain has more than 600 species of spiders,

all of them harmless to man. There are

around 80,000 species of spiders world

wide with more being discovered all

the time.

The first Arachnid is thought to

have been a scorpion like creature

from about 500,000,000 years

ago.