Six-legged Spider

One of the differences between spiders and insects is that insects have six legs and spiders have eight. They belong to the class arachnida which includes mites, scorpions, and ticks. While hiking along a trail I came face to face with an unusual golden silk spider- one with only six legs. It more than likely lost two of its legs to a predator such as a bird. This handicap didn't seem at all to hinder its web building capabilities or its ability to go after prey as noted when I strummed its web. It moved just as creepy fast as an eight-legger. Just proves how insects as well as other animals adapt when faced with situations such as this. Rather than wither and die they learn to adjust.