When I was compiling a ‘Christmas List’ this year I stumbled upon a new book about spiders. As you may know (from my past ramblings on the subject) there are relatively few books that give good information for the non-scientific community regarding spiders in Europe. I have in the past recommended two books particularly: The Private Life of Spider (by Paul Hilyard) – a photographic book with excellent overview and more detailed information on particular international spiders; and the Collins Field Guide – Spider: Britain and Northern Europe (by Michael J. Roberts).

Having spent a little Christmas money and even splashing out on First Class delivery I am jolly pleased to say that I have a further recommendation for any budding spider enthusiasts out there.

Here’s the review…
Spiders – The Ultimate Predators

Stephen Dalton is an experienced wildlife photographer, particularly praised for his macro photography, including insects in flight. His wife enrolled him on a spider course, partly due to his fear of spiders, since he was bitten at the age of four. He became fascinated with these miniature predators and shortly after decided that the range of hunting techniques employed by spiders would form an interesting new photographic book.

As such, this book is divided into sections, the first and last being a brief introduction to spiders, and a useful guide to spider photography. The remainder of the book (nearly 200 pages) is devoted to beautiful photographic spreads of particular species and an enjoyably written description of each species pictured, covering its habits, habitat, characteristics and locations where they can be found.
Each chapter covers a different type of hunting method and depicts some spiders that demonstrate that ability. While these divisions are not scientific, they do certainly make it accessible to those newer to the subject.

The pictures themselves are of course the main draw here, and Stephen is indeed a superb photographer. They are clear, crisp and expertly lit, top-notch in terms of artistic talent. They also serve well for identification purposes, although that is certainly not the primary aim here.
I was concerned, however, that the text would be somewhat basic or error-prone as the author is essentially an amateur. This fear was completely unfounded. Stephen writes well and the information is widely very good and based on several years of enthusiastic searching alongside an expert on spiders. I found only mention of poison, where venom was meant (I’m hardly going to quibble regarding that), and there was one page on a species that seemed to accompany pictures of another (very closely related) species [Segestria senoculata, rather than the mentioned Segestria florentina].

I have to highly recommend this very entertaining and beautiful photo-book. Well worth the £12 or so that it costs online.

I arrived home after a weekend away to discover that my saintly postman had delivered the shiny new hardback book I had ordered.

I dried my clammy hands on the sides of my jeans, steadied myself and then tore open the packaging. There looking out at me was a striking picture of a fishing spider (Dolomedes minor) on a flower; the text over the top of the picture read ‘The Private Life of Spiders‘.

The size and layout, and the photographic emphasis of this publication are best described as ‘coffee table’ (i.e a book which is often an oversized illustrated book, easy on the eyes, usually displayed and read on a coffee table).
One wonders how large an audience there is for spidery coffee table books? Recent estimates suggest that close to half of Britons are rather unenamoured by spiders, and quite how many of the rest of them are keen enough on them to own a copy of such a book, I don’t know. But, anyway, I for one was thrilled when I stumbled upon it while e-window shopping. I read some reviews and saw some sample pictures from the book. I even watched a video of the author holding a spider seminar (bad video quality, but not Paul’s fault!), then I shopped around before stumping up £12 for my own copy.

The Book:

My first impressions as I sprawled out on my bedroom floor and leafed through it were that here was a lavishly created, stunning book. The photographs are, for the most part, pin-sharp close-up shots, taking you closer into the world of spiders than you’ve ever ventured before. Many of the photographs fill much of the large-format page and are truly a joy – clearly the pictures are the star of the show here.

For a nature book the text is very accessible and enjoyable to read, and the typography and layout are modern and punchy. The textual content is informative and goes into plenty of detail to be satisfying to the amateur arachnologist. I had read in some reviews complaints that the content was lacking and the text large to compensate, but my feeling is that the text size is merely a stylistic decision and, as this is an ornamental book first and foremost, that they made the right decision – and I don’t feel the content has been compromised or limited to acheive this.

The book starts with a chapter on the ‘Background to Spiders’: what a spider is, its identifying features, and an overview of their lifestyle and life-cycle.
The next 3 chapters break down the spiders into categories (hunters, web-builders and Tarantulas etc.) and look at each group in fascinating detail, giving information and insight into the families and also some individual species they typify a family, or show an interesting variation to other family members.
Then follows a chapter on silk: and its creation and many uses; a chapter on mating habits, mating displays and looking after eggs and newly-emerged spiderlings; and a chapter on spider venom – a key aspect of spider life, for defence and for capturing prey.
Next is a chapter on the fascinating subject of social (and sub-social) spiders. This is quite an intriguing topic, as most spiders will prey upon smaller spiders and many are cannibalistic in some situations, but these groups of spiders live together and even help each other by capturing prey together or communal web-building.
The final chapter addresses the topic of spider-human interaction, starting with a look at arachnophobia (the condition, not the movie!) and its treatment. It also looks at what we can (and have) learnt from spiders, and how we can help with spider conservation.

I am enthusiastic spider-lover now, but not so long ago I was rather afraid of them and the idea of reading this type of book would have left me sweaty and nauseous. If you are not keen on large pictures of spiders in all their hairy, fang-y, leggy beauty, then this is definately not the book for you. Also, it is not an identification guide for working out what that spider was that just walked over your doormat! What this book is, however, is a very good-looking, informative and charming look at spiders. Paul Hillyard knows his stuff and his obvious love for spiders comes through in his writing.

Conclusion:

I have read a number of other books on spiders, from the basic to the technical and this is perhaps my favourite in terms of the aesthetic value of the book, and the lively, yet informative text. It could not be considered an exhaustive encyclopedia of spider features and behaviour (well, with 40,000 plus species of spiders globally, what did you expect?), but provides a great insight into the lives of the common and more exotic spiders the world has to offer.

I would happily recommend this book to anyone with an interest in spiders and as a good present for young boys (they like spiders and snakes and stuff, don’t they?). At the price I paid it was a steal, but is not too expensive from any of the online bookshops. Go buy it.

(My rating: 8 legs and one palp!)