Spiders: Learning to love them

Description

Spiders are everywhere. No matter how clean, how stark, how sterile your home, the spiders will come. Spiderlings will balloon in and wait for the insects that will appear. Adult spiders will walk in. As you destroy one, another will take its place. Spiders are like that. Lynne introduces us to the hairy, but not so scary, creatures that share our homes and gardens. Answering questions like: how do spiders build webs? is the daddy long-legs the most venomous spider in the world? is arachnid romance really so cutthroat? Lynne guides us through the myth and mystery that surrounds spiders, finally looking at the dreaded bite itself. Spiders: Learning to love them also contains everything the amateur arachnophile needs: an illustrated guide to identifying webs, a list of useful spider-watching equipment, observations sheets, and close-up colour photographs. By observing and studying spiders in the world around her, and learning from experts and biologists, Lynne came to love these misunderstood members of the animal kingdom. As well as being an authoritative book on spiders this is a personal account of conquering arachnophobia and how any arachnophobe can do the same.

Lynne Kelly is an ex-science teacher who has written a number of educational textbooks. She has written a novel for Lothian and two popular science books for Allen & Unwin: Skeptic's Guide to the Paranormal and Crocodile.

Kelly's treatment is clever, entertaining and complete, making this a fine read and a great example of species history done right. --Publishers Weekly on Crocodile Superbly readable and exceptionally well-researched. --Choice on Crocodile This is a book with a clear message. Spiders are simply fascinating. --Weekly Times