A spider’s web covered with dew, glistening in the morning sun is one of the most beautiful and amazing structures in the natural world. Many of us have learned about spiders by reading “Charlotte’s Web” as children or parents. However, these familiar images of spiders are just the beginning of an amazing array of spider shapes, sizes, colors, capabilities and lifestyles which can be found in our own neighborhoods and around the world. Spider webs six feet across, spider silk stronger than steel, spiders that spit silk onto their prey and spiders that can hunt small fish are just a few of the amazing stories to be shared.

A long-time admirer of spiders, Ted Gilman is senior naturalist and environmental education specialist at the Audubon Center in Greenwich, CT. He has served as an instructor in Audubon Workshops in Connecticut, Maine, Kenya, and Trinidad & Tobago. A graduate of Earlham College, he also did graduate work in environmental education and natural resources at Cornell University.

Mr. Gilman’s program on spiders will combine a PowerPoint presentation, illustrations, living specimens, “spider ghosts” and reference materials to help us to a better appreciation of these very special engineers and hunters.