Common Spiders of North America
Richard A. Bradley
Abstract
Spiders are fascinating animals that exhibit remarkably varied and complex behavior. Contrary to popular belief, they are mostly harmless, and many are beneficial to humans. Spiders occur in all terrestrial habitats and are an ecologically important group of small predators. They are a crucial component of every food web, collectively consuming millions of insect prey every day. Their webs are well suited to capturing prey, yet are also among the most beautiful of natural objects. This book provides curious naturalists with the tools to locate, identify, study, and appreciate spiders. North Am ... More
Spiders are fascinating animals that exhibit remarkably varied and complex behavior. Contrary to popular belief, they are mostly harmless, and many are beneficial to humans. Spiders occur in all terrestrial habitats and are an ecologically important group of small predators. They are a crucial component of every food web, collectively consuming millions of insect prey every day. Their webs are well suited to capturing prey, yet are also among the most beautiful of natural objects. This book provides curious naturalists with the tools to locate, identify, study, and appreciate spiders. North America has a rich fauna of spiders, including more than 3,700 species. Many of these spiders are small and inconspicuous; some are large and colorful. This book provides a comprehensive guide to all 68 families of spiders in North America and provides illustrations for 469 commonly encountered species. Identification hints and a brief description of the distribution and habits of each species are provided. There is a concise, illustrated introduction to the features of spider anatomy that are important for understanding spider relationships.
Keywords:
spider,
spider webs,
spider anatomy,
Araneae,
North America,
identification,
color illustrations,
behaviour
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2012 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780520274884 |
| Published to California Scholarship Online: May 2013 |
DOI:10.1525/california/9780520274884.001.0001 |
