BY KIM ATIENZA
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Peter Parker a.k.a. Spiderman has given a whole new meaning to spiders.
Children used to be so afraid of them, not wanting to be an inch close to them. But, Peter Parker has changed all that.
Suddenly, kids today have a new, fresher understanding of spiders.
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Did you know, for instance, that spiders are also a valuable food source for many small mammals, birds, and fish?
They also eat more insects than birds and bats combined.
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Here are some fun facts about spiders, courtesy of Google.
Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs and chelicerae with fangs able to inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids.
Unlike insects, spiders do not have antennae.
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More, this time, from Science Kids:
Spiders are arachnids, not insects.
Other members of the arachnid family include scorpions, mites.
Spiders have eight legs while insects have six.
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Spiders are found on every continent of the world except Antarctica.
There are around 40,000 different species of spider.
