Aasivaq • Spider

Photo Credit: Spider in Kuujjuaq - Aqpik road nord by Maxim Larrivée, Montreal Insectarium - Espace pour la vie, (n.d.). Licenced with Permission. 

Spiders have eight legs, while insects have six, and they have neither wings nor antennae. Their body is separated in two parts instead of three like insects. The first part is called cephalothorax (comprising the head and the thorax fused together) and the second part is the abdomen. Spiders are voracious predators and consume large quantities of insects. Spiders tend to flee danger. Most of the time, if they bite, it is because the spider accidentally gets stuck between a person’s skin and another object (such as sheets, clothing or shoes) or when people try to catch or handle them with their bare hands. Almost all spiders are venomous but none of the species found in Quebec are capable of causing serious poisoning in human beings.

Wolf spider

Lycosidae

Photo Credit: Wolf spider by Katja Schulz, (n.d.). Licenced with Permission.

Wolf spiders have a rounded cephalothorax and abdomen that are as long as they are wide. They have 8 eyes in three rows.
 

Crab spider

Philodromidae

Photo Credit: Crab Spider by Katja Schulz, (n.d.). . Licenced with Permission.

Crab spiders have a flat cephalothorax that is longer than wide. They have 2 rows of 4 eyes.

Ground dwelling spider

Gnaphosidae

Photo Credit: Ground dwelling spider by Andrey Zharkikh/Icspiderlab, (n.d.). Licenced with Permission.

Ground dwelling spiders have a long flat abdomen from which two spinnerets extend. They 2 rows of 4 eyes.
 

(Description Source: Montreal Insectarium - Espace pour la vie)

 

Innu-aimun Common, type of spider: Pishku-enikᵘ (Source: Les Éditions Tshakapesh, 2018. Uashat, Quebec)