Spiders & Scorpions

Information about Arachnids:

Arachnids are a class of invertebrates of the phylum arthropoda. These include spiders, scorpions, harvestmen, ticks and mites. They are characterized by having eight legs (most insects have six) a hard exoskeleton, and jointed legs used for walking, or creeping along a web. Also making them distinctive is that their body is divided into two segments – the head and thorax – rather than three like other insects. They do not have antennae. Nearly all living species are terrestrial but there are some marine and freshwater species.

There are over 100,000 identified types of arachnid. The largest extant arachnid is the Indian Scorpion 11.5 inches (29.2 cm) As there are thousands of undiscovered species, most likely the smallest would be a tick or mite. Many arachnids are dangerous to humans if bitten, but mostly they are benign animals that pose little threat to anything outside of the prey they hunt or catch in their webs.