Here are some spider facts gathered by my Dad at a meeting of the Abingdon Naturalists' Society. Very important to type that correctly - missing out the a and the l turns it into a much less respectable meeting.
There are 635 species of spider in the British Isles. They are grouped into 33 families.
The Wolf Spider doesn't spin a web. It chases after its prey and jumps on it. The Spitting Spider doesn't spin a web either. It spits sticky mucus at its prey.
The Ladybird Spider is one of the rarest spiders in this country and can be found at a secret location in the south west.
Another spider, whose name I forget, leaves a wedge unwoven except for a single line, and runs down this line to catch its prey when the prey lands in the web.
But in my view, the best spider of all is the Bell's Spider. It is a furry spider that lives underwater. It traps air bubbles on its fur and makes a web shaped like a diving bell and breathes the air bubbles it's collected (do spiders breathe?) and hunts little insects that live in the water. It is endemic to the British Isles and I think it's something anyone who comes from here should be proud of. Hurray!
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