Spiders by Stephen Dalton

Spiders by Stephen Dalton

I have never warmed much to spiders . . . they] are too creepy . . . Well, I'm wrong and this book has changed my mind. Spiders are tops. . . . One is tempted to think there is no such thing as a dull spider.
-- British Wildlife

The hair-raising factor will attract even arachnophobic teens.
-- Booklist

Spiders provides information on habitat, hunting techniques, anatomy, general characteristics and location of spiders, the most successful of all terrestrial predators in the world. Stephen Dalton has chosen to focus on spiders' hunting methods and provides fascinating information on the astonishing array of techniques spiders use for catching their prey: trapping in webs, lassoing, jumping, stealing, chasing, ambushing, spitting, fishing, masquerading as other animals and even attracting prey by mimicking the prey's pheromones.

The spiders are grouped by their method of hunting:

• Nocturnal hunters
• Trappers: orderly webs
• Daylight: visual hunters
• Trappers: disorderly webs
• Jumping spiders
• Tunnel-web builders
• Ambushers and lurkers
• Nonconformists.

Dalton's spectacular photographs are extraordinary in their detail, and some of them document spider behavior never recorded previously. He also gives expert guidance on photographing spiders.

Since the 1960s, Stephen Dalton has been a world-class professional photographer. He is a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and the recipient of the Kodak Award, the Nikon Award, and the Sir Peter Kent Conservation Book Prize, as well as 14 photographic books on insects, birds, animals, and plants. His work has appeared in numerous publications around the world, including National Geographic, Audubon, Country Life, Reader's Digest, and others. His work has been shown at the Barbican in London, the Tate Gallery in London, the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff, and the Royal Photographic Society in Bath.