4- The body of a spider is divided into two parts only 
_the head and thorax are combined into a solid piece, to 
which are attached all the legs, the mouth parts and eyes. The 
abdomen is present often as a large, round sack, plump and 
nicely colored. It is not distinctly marked with rings, as in 
the insects, and bears on the under side the spinnerets, from 
which the spider’s silk thread is drawn. Furthermore, the 
spider has no antennae, as in insects. We may see, however, 
in their place a pair of leg-like appendages which are used 
by the spider to grasp its prey. Then, if we have watched 
spiders at all, we know that the young hatched from the 
eggs resemble the adults 
except in size, and do 
not pass through the 
larval or pupal stage. 
It is clear, then, that 
the spider must not be 
called an insect. But 
what shall we call it ? 
Some naturalists have 
Fig. 16. a common house spider. regarded the spider as a 
Enlarged. (After Emerton.) degraded insect, having 
lost its wings and the movement of its head. Others have 
pointed to the great intelligence displayed by spiders, and 
placed them above the insects. But it is not for us to enter 
into such questions. Let us see what other animals may be 
considered as belonging to the same class as spiders, such as 
have four pairs of jointed legs and no wings. We all know' 
the daddy-long-legs, or harvest men, the scorpions and mites. 
There is no name commonly used that would include these 
related animals, and we will reserve the scientific name for 
older pupils. It is true that spiders are closely related to in¬ 
sects, and if we are not permitted to call them insects, we 
will simply call them spiders, for there are enough of them to 
make a whole class. There are trap-door spiders, crab 
spiders, running spiders, jumping spiders, garden spiders, 
house spiders, water spiders, and so on. The name spider 
means a spinner. The most remarkable fact about spiders, to 
distinguish them from other animals, is their habit of spin¬ 
ning a silken thread and weaving it into variously shaped 
traps in which to conceal themselves and to catch their prey. 
