I bought this book because I was expecting to ID the brown recluse which has several variations. This book had one poorly drawn picture and 1 sentence about the Brown Recluse. I was disappointed to say the least. This is one of those little field guides for kids.
This would be a good field guide for someone about 8 years old.

This book has excellent pictures for identification, however it mainly uses scientific names. There is also limited information about the spider or types of spiders that are pictured. I use this book for identification by the pictures and another book (National Audubon Society's field guide to insects and spiders) to learn more specifics about the spiders attitue and lifesyle. These two books compliment each other perfectly. There are also pictures of spider relatives and insects commonly thought of as spiders, such as whipscorpions, ticks, and arthropods. This book is excellent for a reference!

Last week I woke up when a spider bit me on my forehead. It was a shallow, burning pain rather like someone had injected a weak solution of hydrochloric acid under my skin. About a third of my forehead was flushed red when I first looked in a mirror, but the redness subsided within a few hours, leaving a dime-sized lump that is still visible a week later.

I used "Spiders and Their Kin" to tentatively identify the mangled remains of the spider as a small Brown Recluse ('Loxosceles reclusa'). Just in case I needed to go see my doctor, I put the spider into a baggie and froze it. Luckily, my forehead didn't dissolve---according to the Levis, "In severe cases...the wound grows deeper and does not heal for several months."

At any rate, "Spiders and Their Kin" is a handy book to have around. I bought a copy for my sister when she found what she thought was a Black Widow in her garage, and I also got a copy for myself in order to identify the gigantic black and yellow spider that was hanging head-down in my Japanese Spiraea (it was---or maybe I should say, she was a Black and Yellow Argiope ('A. aurantia').

When I first bought this book, just looking at the cover made me itch. However, it is filled with fascinating little tidbits about Arachnids and their kin. I used to think that Hairy Mygalomorphs were the ugliest spiders on Earth (most especially the ones with ten inch leg spans), but now my vote goes to the Pirate Spiders ('Mimetidae'). Luckily, they are small spiders (4 - 6 mm), so you would have to use a magnifying glass to get the full impact of one of these hairy little dudes.

It is really rather impolite of me to make fun of 'Mimetidae,' since they help beautify my backyard by eating other spiders. According to the authors:

"Pirate Spiders invade webs of other spiders. The slow-moving Pirate Spider bites the web owner, which is quickly paralyzed and sucked dry through the legs, one after another."

Sounds like someone dining on crab legs.

The only fault I can find with "Spiders and Their Kin" is that it doesn't go into enough detail on the individual species and subspecies of Arachnids. And that's not a fair criticism to make, since Golden Nature Guides are meant to be used for quick identification, not detailed research.

Now, I've got to work up my courage, venture outside, and try to identify that big brown spider that has built her web from the house electrical line down to the clematis beside the porch door. Her abdomen is wider than it is long, she has striped legs, and she only comes out after dark...

By the way, "Spiders and their Kin" has a useful chapter on 'Collecting Spiders.' If you're an arachnophobe like I am, learning more about these critters might be the quickest way to cure yourself.