Spiders in Fact, Fiction, Fable and Football Quiz

Answer: All spiders have six eyes

The majority of spiders have eight eyes while some species may have six, four, two, one or none at all, as in the case of many "cave" spiders. The animal order Araneae (spiders) all have eight legs, are carnivorous (even though Bagheera kiplingi, a species in Latin America could be called an "omnivore"), and can produce silk. I inserted this question after finding the following recipe for a Halloween spider shaped "treat" on a web site. "Then press 6 (sic) pieces of licorice into the warm mix to make the legs." Oh well, they sounded like a tasty treat.

Answer: Redback on the toilet seat

"Redback on the Toilet Seat" was a big hit all over Australia for Ralph (Slim) Newton in 1972, the same year he wrote and recorded it. In January 1973 he received the APRA award for "Top Selling Record" during the first Australasian Country Music Awards in Tamworth NSW.

The redback (or red-back) is a "Widow" species of spider and, as such, the female is usually the more deadly. Maybe Slim should have sung "her" instead of "him" and "his".

Answer: Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)

In "Kiss of the Spider Woman" William played Luis Molina, a homosexual, in a South American prison doing time for immoral behaviour. His cell-mate is a political prisoner. Over time they grow closer and come to understand each other. William also won other awards, including "BAFTA" and "Cannes Film Festival" best actor for his stunning performance in this film.

Answer: Robert the Bruce

Robert I, during his battles with King Edward I for control of Scotland, was defeated at the Battle of Methven in 1306. It is an oft told story that he was hiding in a barn (or a cave) when he noticed a spider trying to spin a web. On its seventh attempt the spider succeeded. Robert was inspired, saying, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again" and went on to win a decisive victory at Bannockburn. Three other famous escapees from pursuit by utilising spider webs were; David of Jerusalem, a 12th Century Japanese shogun called Yoritomo, and Muhammad, the founder of Islam.

Answer: A Lunar Roving Vehicle

The Lunar Roving Vehicle is called an LRV or a "moon buggy". "Spider" has attached itself to many an item as a colloquial name. A lime spider is lime cordial & a scoop of vanilla ice-cream in a tall glass topped with lemonade. In early mining days the "gougers" (miners) had a metallic object to attach to the shaft wall which held their candles called a "spider". A horse drawn sulky often has the nickname "spider", due to the wheel spokes looking somewhat web-like.

Answer: Ballooning

Ballooning involves the spiderling climbing an object then creating a line(s) of silk. When the right breeze comes along they are away, maybe ballooning only a metre, maybe 100 kilometres. Ballooning silk is the same silk spiders use for draglines, which are their safety lines. Charles Darwin, while on "The Beagle" in Nov. 1832, noted inter alia that "the air was full of patches of web 60 miles from land and thousands of spiders only 1/10 inch in size, always on a single thread, landed in the ships rigging".

Answer: Richard III

Richard III. In Act one, scene 3 Queen Margaret berates Queen Elizabeth about the Duke of Gloucester (who is soon to be Richard III).
"Poor painted queen, vain flourish of my fortune!
Why strew'st thou sugar on that bottled spider,
Whose deadly web ensnareth thee about?
Fool, fool! thou whett'st a knife to kill thyself.
The day will come that thou shalt wish for me
To help thee curse this pois'nous bunch-back'd toad."
Queen M certainly didn't like the Duke.

Answer: Cambodia

From April 1975 until late 1978 Cambodians suffered greatly under the Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot. The regime insisted on a policy of self-reliance. This led to dramatic food shortages. Having forced the population into rural areas, it was there that some started to eat tarantulas for food.

While the country has revived and most people have given up the practice, there are still villages where this "delicacy" has a market. W.S. Bristowe, a recognised spider authority, wrote in 1932 that some locals in Thailand and in Papua-New Guinea ate spiders.

Answer: Anita and Arabella

Anita and Arabella, two female cross spiders (Araneus diadematus), were taken to Skylab on 28th July 1973 by crew on the second visit from Earth. Anita died after 51 days while Arabella was found dead after the return of the command module to Earth. They both spun webs during the event. The thread spun in flight was finer than that spun pre-flight. If your interest is whetted visit "The Journal of Arachnology" online to find a detailed paper on the "space spiders".

Answer: Peter

Sometimes press and fans would write "Spider" but "Spida" is how he spelt this nickname. He's all arms and legs, so it's easy to see where the name came from. In July 2009 he appeared in the ninth season of a national Australian TV show called "Dancing With the Stars". Sadly Peter and his professional dancing partner were the first couple eliminated.

Answer: The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones wrote and recorded "The Spider and the Fly" for their 1965 L.P. "Out Of Our Heads". The writing credits are shown as Jagger/Richards/Nanker/Phelge. Nanker/Phelge refers to a Mick Jagger/Brian Jones/Keith Richards/Charlie Watts/Bill Wyman composition. So Mick and Keith would get bigger royalties from this song?

Answer: Infiltrating silk with metal ions

The Max Planck Microstructure Physics division in their April 2009 press release stated that following infiltration of a double strand of spider silk with metal ions the strand could support the weight of a cube of 27.5 grams. This is three times the weight of an untreated strand.

The silk also expanded twice as much as natural silk plus it absorbed ten times more energy than natural silk before breaking. The added properties only worked when the ions penetrate the fibres. Imagine the size of future spiders when they learn this?

Answer: Alfa Romeo Spider 1600 "Duetto"

The film was "The Graduate" and made the Alfa Spider so famous that eventually Alfa Romeo marketed the car in the USA as the "Alfa Graduate". Being an ex Vauxhall Wyvern two-door soft-top owner I like to think the "Spider/Spyder" name came from the metal bars, used to hold up the fabric roof of many earlier "soft-tops", looking somewhat like a spider web.

There are other theories out there on this nomenclature, but too involved to take on here.

Answer: Water spout

O.K., sometimes recorded as "tea spout" or just "spout". By a head count "water spout" wins, being more constant in literature. For fans of British comedy, imagine Frank Spencer reciting this poem!
This is the way I taught it to my children,
(with appropriate hand movements). "Itsy Bitsy spider climbed the water-spout;
Down came the rain-drops and washed poor Itsy out;
Out came the sun-shine and dried up all the rain;
And Itsy Bitsy spider climbed the spout again".

Answer: Spiders

Arachnophobia. It's a fancy name for a simple fear. You are afraid of spiders. It's got to be up there in the all time "great" fear phobias. Open space fear is Agoraphobia; Bee fear is Apiphobia and if you ever saw the film "Shine" a biopic on Australian pianist David Helfgott, then you will agree we need a phobia for Rachmaninoff piano works. I suggest "Arachmanisoffphobia".