"Little Miss Muffet is not the only one who's ever been terrified by a spider. In fact, arachnophobia, or the fear of spiders, afflicts millions around the world. Some people are so tormented that they cannot ever relax, even at home, for fear they'll encounter a "creepy crawler." And yet, a love of spiders — or at least a fascination with them — touches just as many millions, perhaps more.
Though some spiders are dangerous, even deadly, most are perfectly harmless — except to smaller bugs. In The Book of the Spider, naturalist Paul Hillyard examines the engaging world of arachnids and the humorous and frequently absurd ways in which humans respond to this most misunderstood of God's creatures.
Hillyard, an arachnologist at the Natural History Museum in London, covers the full spider spectrum, from folklore and myths to Aristotle's early scientific studies to Space Age spiders building webs in outer space.
There are more than 35,000 known spider species of all shapes and sizes on planet Earth, and Hillyard addresses a plethora of questions obvious and odd, obscure and intriguing:
— Why is black-widow venom more dangerous than a rattlesnake bite?
— How can humans forecast weather by observing a spider's actions?
— What's the best cooking method for spider a la carte?
— Why are spiderwebs often used to dress wounds and coagulate blood?
— How can spiders be beneficial in the cure of headaches, fevers, and even sexual impotence?
In The Book of the Spider these and other questions are pondered and answered in a manner that no lover — or detester — of spiders will ever forget.
Yes, Hillyard readily admits, he is an arachnophile, and he wants you to be one, too. So he has gathered a fascinating social history, one any web-weaving critter can be proud of: star character in the Navajo creation myth, spinner of fine gossamer, long-distance traveler requiring nothing more than a strand of silk and a gentle wind. But Hillyard is careful to offer a few terrifying facts, wisely buffing the spider's tarnished image just so much. For it is a sad fact of nature that the arachnoid barrel harbors some really rotten apples, creatures with toxic brio enough to kill a horse in a few short hours. But why dwell on the macabre, suggests Hillyard, when there is beauty and talent to admire: Spiders have inspired artists from Shakespeare (he was no friend) to the wizards behind the Nazcan lines; they have served as medicinal cures for fever and ague and, when ingested by the handful, for constipation (who could doubt?). They're appreciated as forecasters of the weather, spinners of fantastic webs, eaters of all those insect pests. Who but a tarantula, hailing from Taranto in Italy, could have spawned the tarantella, that spirited dance thought to spell relief from the hairy fellow's bite? Despite their reputation, Hillyard notes, spiders are delicate things, an ideal indicator of environmental quality. And if you can't love them, then pity them their feeble eyesight, their bad digestion and poor circulation; let your heart go out to the male of the species and his miserable postcopulatory prospects.
Dryly humorous and, appropriately, captivating. As creatures who need all the friends they can get, spiders should proclaim a Hillyard Day.
| Preface | ||
| Acknowledgments | ||
| 1 | Arachnophobia | 3 |
| 2 | Folklore, Myths, and Literature | 15 |
| 3 | Aeronautic Spiders | 50 |
| 4 | Venomous Spiders | 59 |
| 5 | Remarkable Spiders | 80 |
| 6 | Webs and Silk | 106 |
| 7 | The Discovery of Spiders in South America | 133 |
| 8 | A Brief History of Spiderology | 146 |
| 9 | Conservation of Spiders | 179 |
| 10 | From Arachnophobia to the Love of Spiders | 184 |
| References | 195 | |
| Index | 207 |
Overview
"Little Miss Muffet is not the only one who's ever been terrified by a spider. In fact, arachnophobia, or the fear of spiders, afflicts millions around the world. Some people are so tormented that they cannot ever relax, even at home, for fear they'll encounter a "creepy crawler." And yet, a love of spiders — or at least a fascination with them — touches just as many millions, perhaps more.
Though some spiders are dangerous, even deadly, most are perfectly harmless — except to smaller bugs. In The Book of the ...