Description:
"Wherever you are, there is a spider within a meter of you." So begins this engaging introduction to the spider, the dominant terrestrial carnivore on the planet. Photographed up close, the spiders in this slender text display an otherworldly beauty. But it's the text that makes this book shine. Even veteran arachnophobes will be charmed by author Adrienne Mason's lively writing about the diversity of spiders and her delight in the strange details of their eating habits and sex lives. Mason, a naturalist and author of several children's books, writes clearly about the often bizarre anatomy and habits of spiders. She doesn't shy away from scientific terms and provides a useful guide to common spider families in an appendix, which includes graceful line drawings illustrating the distinctive features of each family. The four chapters cover the basics: spider diversity and ecology, sex and reproduction, predation, and spider lore. A sampling of Mason's eye for telling details: more than 2 million spiders live in a single acre of grassy meadow; those spiders consume nearly 50,000 pounds of prey per acre in a single year; the whirling Italian dance known as the tarantella was thought to cure illness caused by tarantula bites. The World of the Spider provides a revealing glimpse at the striking diversity and biology of this feared and misunderstood group. After reading this book, you'll appreciate spiders and their importance, even if you still shriek when you find one in the tub. More adventurous readers who want to identify spiders in the field should consult other works, including the useful and inexpensive identification guide by Levi and Levi, Spiders and Their Kin. --Pete Holloran
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