While many stories have played upon the more sinister or frightening aspects of spiders, in general, spiders are respected for their skill as spinners of silk and the carnivorous role they play in the garden. Spiders differ from insects in that the head and thorax are fused together to form what is called a cephalothorax. In insects, these body parts are separate. Spiders have eight legs while insects have 6.
Spiders are arthopods, members of the class Arachnida.
The class name comes from a story in Greek mythology. Arachne was a simple peasant girl who boasted that she could weave better than the gods. Offended by this claim, Athena, the weaver among the gods, challenged Arachne to a weave off and lost. Unhappy about the outcome, Athena so frightened and humiliated Arachne that, soon afterwards, she committed suicide. Saddened by this turn of events, Athena revived Arachne changing her into a spider with skill at weaving.