How does a spider spin its silk?

A spider spins its silk by releasing a liquid through its spinnerets.  The liquid hardens into a silk thread as soon as it touches the air.

Spiders are small, eight-legged animals that are best known for the silken webs they spin. Spiders have spinning organs called spinnerets on the underside of their stomachs.

Through the spinnerets, spiders release a liquid that hardens to silk as soon as it touches the air. The spider cannot force the silk from its silk glands in a stream.  When it is spinning a web it pulls the silk from the spinnerets with a hind leg.

Spiders use their silk in many ways.  Some spin webs to catch insects for fond.  They also line their retreats and nests with it.

Most spiders enclose their eggs in a protective eggs sac, or cocoon of silk.  The newly hatched spider lings may migrate to new homes by spinning silken, gossamer threads carried by the wind.

The spider traits a drag line wherever, it goes.  It can swing down to the ground from high places or swing out of reach of any enemy.-Dick Rogers

Are tarantulas poisonous?

In the United Stales, any large, hairy spider is popularly called a tarantula.  It looks fierce but it is not as dangerous as it looks.  Its bite is no more harmful to man than that of most other spiders found in the United States.  But it can inflict a painful wound in self-defense.

Most tarantulas make homes in deep burrows.  They come out at night to look for food, and lie hidden among the leaves or in the burrow.  When an insect comes along, the tarantula rushes out and bites it, and then drags it into its burrow.

During the winter, the tarantula shuts itself up in its home with a silken door.  The tarantula gets its name from a large wolf spider found near Taranto, a town in Italy.

Long go, it was believed that people bitten by this spider came ill with a disease called “tarantism.”  The cure was said to be for the victim to dance and skip about to music until he became well.  From this old belief came the tarantella, a lively Italian folk dance.-Dick Rogers