araneae

Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs & chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids & rank seventh in total species diversity among all other orders of organisms. Spiders are found worldwide on every continent except for Antarctica, & have become established in nearly every habitat with the exceptions of air and sea colonisation. As of 2008, at least 43,678 spider species, & 109 families have been recorded by taxonomists; however, there has been dissension within the scientific community as to how all these families should be classified, as evidenced by the over 20 different classifications that have been proposed since 1900.

I was obliged to rescue my eighteen year old son from this modest specimen, but first he said, "have you got your camera to 'Blip' it?"