Gilbert Diaz, age 7, of Gamerco, N.M., for his question:

WHERE DID THE SPIDER'S NAME COME FROM?

Spiders belong in the animal class Arachnida, a name borrowed from Arachne who was a spinning lady of Greek mythology. Arachnida is subdivided into two superfamilies and several smaller families because there are hundreds of different spiders and each species has its own special features. The true spiders are in the superfamily Argiopoidea, and the superfamily Aviculariodea which includes various families of tarantulas and trap door spiders.

The spiders are classified as arthropods and share the vast phylum Arthropoda with the insects and lobsters. The insects are in one class and the spiders in another, but both are arthropods. The little spinner of the orb web is an arthropod of the class Arachnida. Her superfamily is Argiopoidea and her small family group is called either Epeiridae or Argiopidae.