Web Watching A Guide to Webs & the Spiders That Make Them

About this book

We see webs everywhere, but do you know which spider made each web? And for what purpose? This user-friendly guide by award-winning science teacher and lifelong spider watcher Larry Weber helps you untangle the mystery of spider webs and demystify the many purposes of silk. Did you know that spiders have up to seven silk glands and that each produces a different type of silk? The complex process of building a giant orb web is explained in detail. Over 40 species of spiders and their webs are discussed here in detail, with over 200 colour photos and 50 illustrations.

Contents

1 A Guide to Web Watching
2 Spider Classification
3 Insect & Spider Comparison
4 Spider External Anatomy
8 Spider Internal Anatomy
9 Spinnerets & Silk
10 Silk Glands
12 Spider Silk
13 Types of Webs
17 Other Uses for Silk
17 Web Construction
24 Web Destruction
25 Web Watching Tips

SPECIES ACCOUNTS

28 COB WEBS
--30 Theridiidae
--36 Pholcidae
--38 Dictynidae
40 SHEET WEBS
--42 Linyphiidae
--48 Hahnidae
50 FUNNEL WEBS
--52 Agelenidae
--56 Amaurobiidae
58 ORB WEBS
--60 Araneidae
--106 Tetragnathidae
--116 Uloboridae

PHOTO GALLERIES

120 Insects Caught in Webs
122 Dewy Webs
124 Frosty Webs
125 Snowy Web
126 Dusty Webs
127 Seeds in Webs
130 Other Silk Constructions
132 Man-made Web Substrates

133 Titles of Interest
134 Photo Credits
135 Index

Customer Reviews

Biography

Larry Weber has the perfect name for a lifelong spider and web watcher. He was a science teacher for more than 40 years and received the Minnesota Secondary Science Teacher of the Year and the National Biology Teacher Association's Middle School Life Science Teacher of the Year awards. He has a weekly radio phenology program, a phenology column for a local newspaper and is one of the founders of the Minnesota Phenology Network. Larry taught University for Seniors for several years and also teaches many Minnesota Master Naturalist courses. He is also the author of Butterflies of the North Woods, Spiders of the North Woods, Fascinating Fungi of the North Woods, Backyard Almanac, Webwood: Seasons of Life in the North Woods and Minnesota Phenology. Larry lives on an old farmstead in Carlton County, Minnesota, where daily walks keep him in tune with the phenology of our northern flora and fauna.