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Spiders
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by Joseph K H Koh
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by Joseph K H Koh |
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| From
"A Guide to Common Singapore Spiders"
by Joseph K. H. Koh BP Guide to Nature Series published by the Singapore Science Centre and sponsored by British Petroleum< © 2000 Joseph K H Koh |
You
will note that some spiders are sedentary and ensnare their prey with
webs, whereas others are hunters which do not build any webs. 
The
web-builders can be further divided: some build orb-webs (left), others
spin sheet-webs, while others build three-dimensional webs of different
complexities (right). Among the hunters are those active in the daytime
and those active at night. Some hunt among the foliage while others
forage close to the ground. Some hunters are fast runners which actively
chase prey, but others are sluggish creatures which wait patiently
to ambush them.
You
will need to distinguish between male and female spiders. Whereas
the palps of females and immature males are leg-like, each palp of
a mature male (right) is usually swollen at its terminal segment and
is equipped with some complex structures where the semen is stored
and subsequently discharged when it is inserted into the genital opening
of the female during mating. The genital opening of the female is
located on the underside of the abdomen just in front of the epigastric
groove. The position is often indicated by a hardened (sclerotised)
structure called the epigyne. The epigyne may come in the form of
a simple or complicated pit, plate or hook.