AWESOME SPIDERS
"If you want to live and thrive, let the spider run alive."
-- English proverb
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Besides providing this invaluable service, spiders rank high among earth's most successful, diverse and
fascinating creatures. At present, there are 108 recognized families of spiders that include 3,677
genera and 39,882 described species. A few spider families contain only a single species,
but other families have thousands. The family of jumping spiders, Salticidae, is the
largest, with about 5,100 named species and others yet to be described.
Would human life be possible without spiders? Believe it or not, this is a valid question.
Spiders worldwide constantly kill and eat enormous quantities of insects, many of which could
otherwise be serious threats to our health and sanity. It has been estimated that the total mass
of insects eliminated annually by spiders far outweighs the entire human population.
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