Spiders
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Glasgow Museums has a collection of more than 50,000 spider (Arachnid) specimens. These date from 1877 to 2007. This collection mostly comprises specimens preserved in spirit, although there are several larger examples that have been air- or freeze-dried for display purposes. The majority of the collection comes from three collectors – HC Young in 1901, EA Crowson in 1989 and JB Gray in 1990 – although there have also been several smaller collections included over the years, from collectors including J MacNaught-Campbell, D Beaumont and the Scottish Agricultural College farm survey. The collection includes almost all species found in Scotland and relates to a wide range of localities. There is also a good collection of foreign spiders from different sources, with several examples of exotic spiders coming from supermarkets and glasshouses around Glasgow. The collection also contains highly detailed field notes as part of the JB Gray 1990 collection, archives associated with the HC Young collection and photographs of live specimens collected by curator Mike Rutherford. Spiders are eight-legged arthropods with a body divided into two parts. They can all produce silk, although not all make webs. They are all predators and inject venom into their prey to kill them. There are around 40,000 species found in almost all terrestrial habitats around the world.
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