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The Lives of Spiders: A Natural History of the World's Spiders
A beautifully illustrated guide to the natural history and breathtaking diversity of spiders around the world
Spiders are dominant predators in virtually every terrestrial ecosystem on the planet. A marvel of evolution with species numbering in the tens of thousands, they have been walking the earth since before the dinosaurs. Spiders manipulate the silk strands of their webs to act as a sensory field, which vibrates across wide frequencies that they can read in detail, while young spiders spin silk lines that interact with the electrical fields in the atmosphere, enabling them to balloon across huge distances. Some spiders even gather in groups to impersonate ants in astonishing displays of collective mimicry. The Lives of Spiders explores these and other wonders, blending stunning imagery, lively writing, and the latest science to explore the natural history of the world’s diverse arachnid life.
Spiders are dominant predators in virtually every terrestrial ecosystem on the planet. A marvel of evolution with species numbering in the tens of thousands, they have been walking the earth since before the dinosaurs. Spiders manipulate the silk strands of their webs to act as a sensory field, which vibrates across wide frequencies that they can read in detail, while young spiders spin silk lines that interact with the electrical fields in the atmosphere, enabling them to balloon across huge distances. Some spiders even gather in groups to impersonate ants in astonishing displays of collective mimicry. The Lives of Spiders explores these and other wonders, blending stunning imagery, lively writing, and the latest science to explore the natural history of the world’s diverse arachnid life.
- GenresAnimalsNonfictionBiology
288 pages, Hardcover
Published June 4, 2024
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83 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 23, 2025
Kathleen Schulz wrote a great essay about spiders in her review of this book so I had to buy it. First, this is a beautiful book, well laid out with gorgeous photographs. Second, the research about spiders is astonishing. It’s not just the variety and the sensitivity but also how they are able to procure prey in some cases even birds and lizards. Some species avoid capture by means of camouflage, for example, making themselves look like ants who are fierce predators.
Spiders are particularly ruthless and clever when it comes to procreating. The male needs to make itself attractive to the female but on some level he knows that success could mean death. Males are often consumed as part of the love making process. Some spider species require a gift giving ritual. The male packages up a gift - some kind of food - the victims of the male wrapped in a silken bundle. The male might even cheat and wrap up a fake gift but the female has sensory tools to figure out the fake gift which frequently means the male won’t get chosen except as the female’s next meal.
The book reflects recent scientific studies on spider cognition which shows they don’t just operate by instinct and actually do make decisions based on facts on the ground and adjusting to them. Here’s the thing that interests me about this - humans just assumed that spiders weren’t capable of thinking so we didn’t bother to design studies about spider cognition until recently. Assumptions of other species inferiority has meant that humans haven’t much studied the topic and when we do, the analysis must necessarily be presented so that we can make sense of their cognition. If we don’t know the questions to ask, we never know how intelligence works for other life forms and so we can blithely continue to assume are the smart ones!
Spiders are particularly ruthless and clever when it comes to procreating. The male needs to make itself attractive to the female but on some level he knows that success could mean death. Males are often consumed as part of the love making process. Some spider species require a gift giving ritual. The male packages up a gift - some kind of food - the victims of the male wrapped in a silken bundle. The male might even cheat and wrap up a fake gift but the female has sensory tools to figure out the fake gift which frequently means the male won’t get chosen except as the female’s next meal.
The book reflects recent scientific studies on spider cognition which shows they don’t just operate by instinct and actually do make decisions based on facts on the ground and adjusting to them. Here’s the thing that interests me about this - humans just assumed that spiders weren’t capable of thinking so we didn’t bother to design studies about spider cognition until recently. Assumptions of other species inferiority has meant that humans haven’t much studied the topic and when we do, the analysis must necessarily be presented so that we can make sense of their cognition. If we don’t know the questions to ask, we never know how intelligence works for other life forms and so we can blithely continue to assume are the smart ones!
February 28, 2025
A spirited defense of the critter normally felt to do the best job of giving folks the willies. Along the way, there are tons of up close photos of these beauties, along with detailed accounts of such things as wasps that can control the minds of spiders, along with depictions of spider sex that the author admits are weird. I wish there had been more about the way people shouldn't be scared of spiders, but the fact is that if you woke up and saw one of these creatures crawling up your chest, well, you'd be Hoovering out your shorts for a week afterwards. A worthy companion to the classic text "Who Would Win? Tarantula Vs. Scorpion."
September 14, 2025
This is a really great overview of the world of spiders.Vegetarian spiders, check, cannibal spiders, also check, spiders who “dance,” great big double check.Replete with gorgeous photos to back up the intriguing facts, sure to please spider lovers and maybe even convert an arachnophobe or two.
November 7, 2024
Has gorgeous photos and amazing drawings in it. Drawings are so good at explaining the topics.(For example: drawing of the silk glads in the page 70, drawing of spinnerets in the page 71)
Sometimes the language gets too complicated and hard to understand.
I don't recommend reading this as the first spider book you read.(I think reading Simon D. Pollard - The Little Book of Spiders before this one would be good)
Sometimes the language gets too complicated and hard to understand.
I don't recommend reading this as the first spider book you read.(I think reading Simon D. Pollard - The Little Book of Spiders before this one would be good)
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews