SPIDERS
Most spiders are nocturnal in nature and so are seldom seen in daylight. Spiders take shelter from the daylight in burrows or suitable cracks and crevices. Once darkeness falls they may leave the protection of their shelters in search of food, to locate a mate or to construct prey-catching web structures.
Cannibalism is well documented in spiders from an early age, especially if food is short. Interestingly if a male spider is confined with a female spider of the same species usually the female will kill the male who generally offers little resistance. Spiders are carnivorous, feeding on live or freshly killed insects or other spiders, rendering their live prey immobile by the injection of venom delivered through their fangs.
Spiders produce silk (web) from special structures called spinnerets positioned at the back of their abdomen. Spiders use their silk to ensnare prey or in some species to enable dispersal. By producing web of sufficient length they may be carried away in the air, perhaps for kilometres at a time.
The venom of spiders is not necessarily poisonous to warm-blooded animals, with most spider bites resulting in localised swelling or irritation only. Human deaths resulting from spider bites are very rare indeed, with anti-venene being available for the most dangerous species, such as the Redback or Funnelweb spiders.