Most spiders have a pair of poison glands that lie within the cephalothorax. Each bulblike poison gland produces and stores toxin. A muscle spirals around the gland. When this muscle contracts, it squeezes poison from the gland through a duct into the fangs of the chelicerae, which then pass the poison into the prey.
Palps and Legs
Behind the chelicerae are a pair of palps, segmented limbs that are used in feeding and as feelers. Male spiders also use palps to transfer sperm to females during mating. Adjacent to the palps are four pairs of long, hairy legs. Unlike human hair, each spider hair found on the legs acts as a sensory organ, sensitive to touch and vibration.
Each leg is made up of seven jointed segments, called the coxa, trochanter, femur, patella, tibia, metatarsus, and tarsus. More than 30 muscles control the movement of each leg. In addition, some joints of the leg move by the hydraulic action of body fluid.
The tips of the legs have two or three small claws that are used for climbing or grasping the spider’s silk thread. Many ground spiders have specialized adhesive hairs beneath their claws, known as claw tufts or scopulae. These claw tufts enable the spiders to walk surefootedly on smooth, vertical surfaces—even upside down on
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