Off to See Spiders!Author: Vena KapoorIllustrator: Pia Meenakshi

We are off to see spiders,Some large as a plate, somesmall as a pin.We will see so many spiders,Our heads will spin, spin, spin!

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“Is that an ant or a spider?” asks Kaveri. It looks like an ant, but it haseight legs.

“Uff, ants are insects. All insects have six legs, not eight. But you areright, this does look like an ant!” says Shivi.

“Full marks,” says Shama. “It is an ant-mimic spider.”

Kaveri and Shivi love being with Shama. She is studying to be a wildlifebiologist, and is full of fun facts and stories about different animals andplants.

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Just then, Kaveri spots the sac spider. It's neatly rolled up inside a leaf!“How did you find it?” asks Shivi.“Ah! When you get to know the different signs that spiders make, you start finding them everywhere,”Shama says, with a wink.

5

We are off to see spiders,Some fat, some thin, some hairy.

They have eight legs and eight eyes,But don’t worry! They are not scary!

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“Ummm, that looks like a crab!”says Shivi, squinting at a yellowflower.

“Ha!” Shama says. “It’s the crabspider. And look! It has caught apoor bee that was visiting theflower for nectar.”

“Ah, no wonder the bee didn’tsee the spider. It’s almost thesame colour as the flower,” saysKaveri.

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“Look, look,” yells Shivi, pointing towards the leaves on the damp ground. A female wolf spider is carryingher egg sac.

“And there is another one! Ooh! There are hundreds of tiny baby spiders on her back!” Shama whispers inawe.

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We are off to see spiders,Oh where, oh where, oh where?On grass, on leaves, on flowers,

Here, there and everywhere!

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Shivi is leaning on a tree trunk when suddenly he jumps in fright! Something scuttled by at lightning speed.

“There you are!” Shama says, moving closer. “See how well the two-tailed spider blends with the tree bark?”

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“Here’s a spider that looks like ithas only four legs,” Kaveri saysexcitedly, pointing towards abush. The spider has spun awheel-shaped web between twoplants.

“What a beautiful zigzag pattern!This has to be the cross spider,”Shama exclaims.

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We are off to see spiders,So far we have had quite a catch!

Hey! Someone’s spinning lovely webs,On this grassy patch.

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Kaveri, Shivi and Shama stumble upon a sheet-and-tunnel web spider.

“So many webs,” Kaveri exclaims. “They look like delicate sheets!”

“This juicy grasshopper stuck in the web will become spider food soon. Slurp!” says Shivi.

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“Right! It’s time to go home now,” says Shama, looking at her watch. “I have to study for my classtomorrow.”Kaveri and Shivi’s faces fall.“Oh don't worry, there’s plenty to see at home as well,” says Shama.

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Back home, Shama spies the common house spider. “Oh! There’s thedaddy-long-legs spider.”

“They are funny,” says Kaveri. “They dangle upside down and have long,long legs.”

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We saw so many wondrous spiders,On grass, trees and flower heads.

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Let’s crawl and look for more of them,Will we find some under our beds?

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Spider Guide

Meet the spiders that Kaveri, Shivi and Shama seeon their walk.

Two-tailed spidersThese spiders get their name because of their longspinning organs that look like a tail! With a flatbody, these spiders blend in very well on treetrunks and walls.

Ant-mimic spidersThey behave just like ants and look like them too!These spiders in disguise trick animals and birdsthat like to eat spiders.

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Crab spidersWith a much longer and stronger pair of front legs,these spiders often extend their legs while waitingto catch their food. This pose makes them look verymuch like a crab!

Wolf spidersYou will often find wolf spiders scuttling on theground, especially where there are leaves andshrubs. A female wolf spider carries egg sacsattached to her spinning organs. When the sacopens, hundreds of baby spiders climb onto herback and stay there for several days.

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Sac spidersThese spiders rest inside silken sacs that they makewithin rolled leaves and blades of grass. They comeout of their silken retreats when they have to huntfor food.

Sheet-and-tunnel web spidersThese spiders make beautiful and delicate sheet-like webs. A tunnel at the end of the sheet web isthe perfect hiding place for them. They dart outwhen an insect gets caught in the web.

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Daddy-long-legs spidersThese common house spiders are found on theceiling, in corners of houses and sheds. Theircobwebs may look untidy, but they catch a lot offlying insect pests.

Cross spidersWhen cross spiders are on their wheel-shapedwebs, they look like they’re making an X-shape!They are also called signature spiders because ofthe zigzag pattern they make on their webs.

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This book was made possible by Pratham Books' StoryWeaver platform. Content under CreativeCommons licenses can be downloaded, translated and can even be used to create new stories ‐provided you give appropriate credit, and indicate if changes were made. To know more about this,and the full terms of use and attribution, please visit the following link.

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Some rights reserved. This book is CC -BY -4.0 licensed. You can copy, modify, distributeand perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.For full terms of use and attribution, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ The development of this book has been supported by Oracle.

Story Attribution:This story: Off to See Spiders! is written by Vena Kapoor . © Pratham Books , 2018. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.

Other Credits:This book was first published on StoryWeaver by Pratham Books. The development of this book has been supported by Oracle. Guest Editor: Bijal Vachharajani

Illustration Attributions:Cover page: Kids curious about a spider on a leaf, by Pia Meenakshi © Pratham Books, 2018. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 2: Spiderweaving a web, by Pia Meenakshi © Pratham Books, 2018. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 3: Ant mimic spiders, by Pia Meenakshi ©Pratham Books, 2018. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 4: Kids looking at ant-mimic spiders, by Pia Meenakshi © Pratham Books, 2018.Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 5: Kids observing a sac spider, by Pia Meenakshi © Pratham Books, 2018. Some rights reserved.Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 6: Trees in a lawn, by Pia Meenakshi © Pratham Books, 2018. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 7:Kids looking in a park for something, by Pia Meenakshi © Pratham Books, 2018. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 8: Crab spider on ayellow flower, by Pia Meenakshi © Pratham Books, 2018. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 9: Wolf spider, by Pia Meenakshi © PrathamBooks, 2018. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 10: Silhouette of kids in a park, by Pia Meenakshi © Pratham Books, 2018. Some rightsreserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 11: Kids looking at a two-tailed spider, by Pia Meenakshi © Pratham Books, 2018. Some rights reserved. Releasedunder CC BY 4.0 license.

This book was made possible by Pratham Books' StoryWeaver platform. Content under CreativeCommons licenses can be downloaded, translated and can even be used to create new stories ‐provided you give appropriate credit, and indicate if changes were made. To know more about this,and the full terms of use and attribution, please visit the following link.

Disclaimer: https://www.storyweaver.org.in/terms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved. This book is CC -BY -4.0 licensed. You can copy, modify, distributeand perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.For full terms of use and attribution, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ The development of this book has been supported by Oracle.

Illustration Attributions:Page 12: Cross spider, by Pia Meenakshi © Pratham Books, 2018. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 13: Silhouettes of kids, by PiaMeenakshi © Pratham Books, 2018. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 14: Sheet & tunnel web spider, by Pia Meenakshi © PrathamBooks, 2018. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 15: Girl waves to children , by Pia Meenakshi © Pratham Books, 2018. Some rightsreserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 16: A fan, by Pia Meenakshi © Pratham Books, 2018. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page17: Kids looking at daddy-long-legs spider, by Pia Meenakshi © Pratham Books, 2018. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 18: House in themidst of the forest, by Pia Meenakshi © Pratham Books, 2018. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 19: Boy curiously looking under a bed,by Pia Meenakshi © Pratham Books, 2018. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 20: Ant-mimic spider and two tailed spider, by PiaMeenakshi © Pratham Books, 2018. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 21: A Crab spider and a Wolf spider, by Pia Meenakshi © PrathamBooks, 2018. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 22: sheet and tunnel web spider and sac spider, by Pia Meenakshi © Pratham Books,2018. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 23: Cross spider and Daddy long legs spider, by Pia Meenakshi © Pratham Books, 2018. Somerights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.

This is a Level 3 book for children who are ready to read on their own.

(English)Off to See Spiders!

Kaveri and Shivi go looking for spiders, along with their friend Shama.

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