The Private Life of Spiders

by Paul Hillyard

Overview

With more than 100 different families and 40,000 individual species, spiders are among the most successful creatures on Earth. Highly adaptable, they live almost everywhere, from equatorial rainforest to Arctic tundra. And they come in a huge range of shapes and sizes, from the tiny Patu digua, measuring less than half a millimeter, to the immense bird-eating tarantula, which can reach a span of eleven inches. In The Private Life of Spiders, spider expert Paul Hillyard takes the reader on a fascinating and richly illustrated tour of the lives of some of the world's most remarkable spiders.

The Private Life of Spiders reveals the intriguing behaviors of these complex creatures, from their extraordinary web-spinning skills and hunting strategies to their courtship displays and devoted care for their young. The book also describes other surprising skills of some spiders, such as the ability to cross vast stretches of open water.

Written in an engaging style, The Private Life of Spiders also looks at why people are scared of spiders, explains why such fear is generally misplaced, and shows why more needs to be done to protect endangered spiders.

• Features spiders from a vast range of habitats around the world
• Includes more than 100 stunning color photographs that capture the beauty and diversity of spiders
• Covers spider anatomy, behavior, reproduction, social organization, and hunting and web construction techniques

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691150031
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	04/24/2011
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 9.60(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Paul Hillyard is a leading authority on spiders and a former curator at London's Natural History Museum. His previous books include Spiders and The Book of the Spider: From Arachnophobia to the Love of Spiders.

What People are Saying About This

Cushing

Paul Hillyard's Private Life of Spiders is enjoyable to read, very informative, and beautifully illustrated. The photographs are truly stunning and make a wonderful complement to the text's excellent information on spider life and biology for the general reader. This book will be a terrific addition to any naturalist's or spider lover's library.
— Paula E. Cushing, president of the American Arachnological Society

Jonathan Coddington

This is an excellent, engagingly written introduction to the diverse and often incredible world of spiders.
— Jonathan Coddington, curator of spiders at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History

From the Publisher

"Paul Hillyard's Private Life of Spiders is enjoyable to read, very informative, and beautifully illustrated. The photographs are truly stunning and make a wonderful complement to the text's excellent information on spider life and biology for the general reader. This book will be a terrific addition to any naturalist's or spider lover's library."—Paula E. Cushing, president of the American Arachnological Society

"This is an excellent, engagingly written introduction to the diverse and often incredible world of spiders."—Jonathan Coddington, curator of spiders at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History

Editorial Reviews

"[The] stunning photographs are so vivid you can almost feel the spiders crawling on you."

Library Journal

Arachnofans, rejoice. Your species of choice is finally getting its due. This gorgeous book tells all about scruffy little spiders that spin messy, seemingly inefficient webs, proud orb spiders that sit smack in the middle of spectacular constructions, scary, hairy tarantulas and more. As someone who previously found spiders ho-hum, Paul Hillyard's book is an eye-opener. The photographs reveal the diversity of shapes, sizes and lifestyles of the world's 40,000 spider species. Hillyard is a former curator at London's Natural History Museum. Despite the impressive creatures on offer, my favourites are the tiny hunting spiders, many of which quietly live indoors waiting for mosquitoes or flies.

The Australian - Leigh Dayton

This colorful volume creeps and crawls with stunning (and sometimes creepy) close-up photos of some of the world's 100 different spider families and 40,000 individual species.

Deseret Morning News - Angelyn N. Hutchinson

The bulk of the book deals with descriptions of the various kinds of spiders. Some spin webs and wait, some lurk in burrows or in camouflage, some prowl the sand. But there's more that makes this an interesting read. Hillyard discusses the irrationality of arachnophobia, the fear of spiders, how spiders are beneficial to all kinds of human endeavors—engineering, rice farming and beer brewing are mentioned—and why it's important to know more about spiders.

Lakeland Ledger - Tom Palmer

[T]his is a fascinating and very well presented volume. A reader cannot help learning about and appreciating the interesting adaptations and behaviors of spiders. Even those who would rather just avoid spiders altogether will come away from this book with a new admiration.

American Biology Teacher - Cate Hibbitt

This beautifully illustrated book is written by a former curator at London's Natural History Museum. Hillyard is the author of several previous books on spiders, and he has traveled widely to photograph and collect material. The volume is well organized, and the style of writing is clear and concise.

Choice - M. J. O'Donnell

A journey through the life of these often misunderstood and sometimes dangerous creatures. . . . This is a fascinating book.

Washington Post - Joel Lerner

Arachnophobes will want to stay far away from this lavishly illustrated introduction. Hillyard, a spider expert at the Natural History Museum in London, takes a gorgeous look at one of the most successful groups of animals. Spiders can be found almost anywhere and will eat almost anything they can catch. In conversational prose that engages the reader in the intricacies of spider ecology, Hillyard explains the two major spider lifestyles (those that actively hunt and those that spin webs), discusses silk production and all the uses spiders make of silk, mating and resulting young, venom, sociality, and spiders and humans. . . . The more than 100 photographs are marvelous examples of close-up photography as the reader witnesses a tarantula molting, a bolas spider dangling its line of silk covered with sticky globules, and the face and large fangs of a wolf spider.

Booklist - Nancy Bent

Hillyard is a true spider devotee, and he cheerfully informs us that there is no escape from his subject. . . . The Private Life of Spiders is a stroll through their largely hidden world, highlighting the most spectacular, unusual, and instructive of the eight-legged brethren. After a brief overview of spider evolution and biology, Hillyard launches into the meat of his subject-a sweeping overview of spider diversity, commencing with those species whose habits and bodies are the most primitive, and culminating with those paragons of arachnid evolution, the elegant orb-weavers.

New York Review of Books - Tim Flannery

"Hillyard is a true spider devotee, and he cheerfully informs us that there is no escape from his subject. . . . The Private Life of Spiders is a stroll through their largely hidden world, highlighting the most spectacular, unusual, and instructive of the eight-legged brethren. After a brief overview of spider evolution and biology, Hillyard launches into the meat of his subject-a sweeping overview of spider diversity, commencing with those species whose habits and bodies are the most primitive, and culminating with those paragons of arachnid evolution, the elegant orb-weavers."—-Tim Flannery, New York Review of Books

"Arachnophobes will want to stay far away from this lavishly illustrated introduction. Hillyard, a spider expert at the Natural History Museum in London, takes a gorgeous look at one of the most successful groups of animals. Spiders can be found almost anywhere and will eat almost anything they can catch. In conversational prose that engages the reader in the intricacies of spider ecology, Hillyard explains the two major spider lifestyles (those that actively hunt and those that spin webs), discusses silk production and all the uses spiders make of silk, mating and resulting young, venom, sociality, and spiders and humans. . . . The more than 100 photographs are marvelous examples of close-up photography as the reader witnesses a tarantula molting, a bolas spider dangling its line of silk covered with sticky globules, and the face and large fangs of a wolf spider."—-Nancy Bent, Booklist

"A journey through the life of these often misunderstood and sometimes dangerous creatures. . . . This is a fascinating book."—-Joel Lerner, Washington Post

"This beautifully illustrated book is written by a former curator at London's Natural History Museum. Hillyard is the author of several previous books on spiders, and he has traveled widely to photograph and collect material. The volume is well organized, and the style of writing is clear and concise."—-M. J. O'Donnell, Choice

From the Publisher

"A glimpse behind the silk curtain at everyone's favorite creepy-crawlies. The book includes a guide to overcoming arachnophobia, although the photos might offer the safest vantage for a close-up of a tarantula."

USA Today

"[Hillyard's] new book features more than 100 stunning photographs in full color capturing the beauty and diversity of spiders. In addition, he covers spider anatomy, behavior, reproduction, social organization, hunting techniques and even web construction. . . . Engaging and fascinating."

Tucson Citizen

"A glimpse behind the silk curtain at everyone's favorite creepy-crawlies. The book includes a guide to overcoming arachnophobia, although the photos might offer the safest vantage for a close-up of a tarantula."

USA Today

This beautifully illustrated book is written by a former curator at London's Natural History Museum. Hillyard is the author of several previous books on spiders, and he has traveled widely to photograph and collect material. The volume is well organized, and the style of writing is clear and concise.

Choice - M.J. O'Donnell

Arachnofans, rejoice. Your species of choice is finally getting its due. This gorgeous book tells all about scruffy little spiders that spin messy, seemingly inefficient webs, proud orb spiders that sit smack in the middle of spectacular constructions, scary, hairy tarantulas and more. As someone who previously found spiders ho-hum, Paul Hillyard's book is an eye-opener. The photographs reveal the diversity of shapes, sizes and lifestyles of the world's 40,000 spider species. Hillyard is a former curator at London's Natural History Museum. Despite the impressive creatures on offer, my favourites are the tiny hunting spiders, many of which quietly live indoors waiting for mosquitoes or flies.
— Leigh Dayton

The Australian

This colorful volume creeps and crawls with stunning (and sometimes creepy) close-up photos of some of the world's 100 different spider families and 40,000 individual species.
— Angelyn N. Hutchinson

Deseret Morning News

The bulk of the book deals with descriptions of the various kinds of spiders. Some spin webs and wait, some lurk in burrows or in camouflage, some prowl the sand. But there's more that makes this an interesting read. Hillyard discusses the irrationality of arachnophobia, the fear of spiders, how spiders are beneficial to all kinds of human endeavors—engineering, rice farming and beer brewing are mentioned—and why it's important to know more about spiders.
— Tom Palmer

Lakeland Ledger

[T]his is a fascinating and very well presented volume. A reader cannot help learning about and appreciating the interesting adaptations and behaviors of spiders. Even those who would rather just avoid spiders altogether will come away from this book with a new admiration.
— Cate Hibbitt

American Biology Teacher

This beautifully illustrated book is written by a former curator at London's Natural History Museum. Hillyard is the author of several previous books on spiders, and he has traveled widely to photograph and collect material. The volume is well organized, and the style of writing is clear and concise.
— M. J. O'Donnell

Choice

A journey through the life of these often misunderstood and sometimes dangerous creatures. . . . This is a fascinating book.
— Joel Lerner

Washington Post

Arachnophobes will want to stay far away from this lavishly illustrated introduction. Hillyard, a spider expert at the Natural History Museum in London, takes a gorgeous look at one of the most successful groups of animals. Spiders can be found almost anywhere and will eat almost anything they can catch. In conversational prose that engages the reader in the intricacies of spider ecology, Hillyard explains the two major spider lifestyles (those that actively hunt and those that spin webs), discusses silk production and all the uses spiders make of silk, mating and resulting young, venom, sociality, and spiders and humans. . . . The more than 100 photographs are marvelous examples of close-up photography as the reader witnesses a tarantula molting, a bolas spider dangling its line of silk covered with sticky globules, and the face and large fangs of a wolf spider.
— Nancy Bent

Booklist

Hillyard is a true spider devotee, and he cheerfully informs us that there is no escape from his subject. . . . The Private Life of Spiders is a stroll through their largely hidden world, highlighting the most spectacular, unusual, and instructive of the eight-legged brethren. After a brief overview of spider evolution and biology, Hillyard launches into the meat of his subject-a sweeping overview of spider diversity, commencing with those species whose habits and bodies are the most primitive, and culminating with those paragons of arachnid evolution, the elegant orb-weavers.
— Tim Flannery

New York Review of Books