There are four types of spider webs: orb webs, sheet webs, funnel webs, and cobwebs, which are sometimes called tangle webs. Orb webs are an efficient way to catch flying insects. They need relatively little silk and can be finished quickly. An orb weaver waits in its web or nearby for prey to become entangled.

Funnel weavers spin thick, flattened webs and sit at the center of a silken hole, or funnel. The funnel webs of grass spiders and barn funnel weavers have no sticky strands, so they do not entangle prey. When the spider senses prey, it darts out.

Not every spider builds a web. Crab spiders wait among flowers for prey to visit and do not wrap their prey with silk. Trapdoor spiders live in silk-lined burrows they dig into the sides of hills or slopes. A trapdoor spider covers its burrow entrance with a round, cork-like lid that has a silk hinge and is camouflaged with bits of soil and plant material. It hunts by lying in wait under the partly opened lid and darting out to capture prey that ventures too close.

A jumping spider's front pair of eyes is very large, and it has another three pairs of smaller eyes in three rows. Together the four pairs of eyes cover virtually the entire 360 degrees. Jumping spiders use their third and fourth pairs of legs for jumping and seize prey with their front pair of legs. When jumping spiders move or jump, they always leave a safety line of silk, or dragline, behind. If a jump misses, a spider can climb back to its original position.

Spiders do not hear the way humans do. They hear with hairs on their body that are sensitive to touch and vibration, and they rely on touch, vibration and taste to navigate and find their prey.

Spiders moult to grow. A new larger cuticle is made underneath the old one, which splits and the spider climbs out. A spider's body is covered with a rigid exoskeleton. If a spider loses a leg, it can still walk and cling to surfaces, and a young spider with at least one more molt to go will regenerate its leg.

Daddy-long-legs, also called harvestmen, are not spiders. They cannot make silk and have no venom. A spider is an arachnid with eight legs and two body parts. Most spiders are harmless to people, and spiders very rarely bite people. Leave wild spiders alone, and tell a grown-up if one worries you.

Words to know

• harvestmen: daddy-long-legs
• dragline: safety thread
• exoskeleton: outer shell
• camouflaged: hidden by color