Template:POTD/2023-10-16
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods of the order Araneae, which have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all orders of organisms, with more than 50,000 species recorded in 132 families. Anatomically, spiders (as with all arachnids) differ from other arthropods in that the usual body segments are fused into two tagmata, the cephalothorax or prosoma, and the opisthosoma, or abdomen, and joined by a small, cylindrical pedicel. Unlike insects, spiders do not have antennae. Spiders are found on every continent except for Antarctica, and have become established in nearly every land habitat type. This adult male jumping spider (Plexippus paykulli) was photographed in the US state of Florida.Photograph credit: Spidereyes2020