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Spiders - Introduction

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Spiders - Introduction
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 3 to 5
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	5.24

Vocabulary

challenging words:

injection, species, vegetarian, poisonous, properly, among, paralyze, sensitive, flying, pain, kill, build, poison, near, such, though

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Spiders - Introduction

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¹     Spiders have eight legs. They are not insects, because insects must have six legs. Spiders are excellent hunters. They have poison glands in their mouths that they use to kill or paralyze their victims. They feed on insects, worms, and their own kind. Some even eat fish, lizards, or birds! There are no vegetarian spiders! Indeed, all spiders are meat-lovers!
 
²     Even though all species of spiders have poison glands, only 30 types of them produce venom that can make us very sick. The black widow spider is among one of the most poisonous types! When a black widow spider bites us, we experience severe pain lasting for days. The bite is not deadly unless it is not treated properly.
 
³     Most spiders produce silk and weave webs. Those are called web spiders. Web spiders, such house spiders and garden spiders, build webs to catch flying insects. Spiders that do not weave webs are called ground spiders. Tarantulas are ground spiders. Tarantulas hide in their homes and wait for something tasty to pass by. They have sensitive hairs to pick up movements of insects or small animals that come near their hideouts. Tarantulas give a quick, lethal injection to their victim before bringing it back home.

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