I WOULD like to correct your correspondent Ciaran O'Hannaidh (October 7). Spiders are not insects. Spiders and insects are both arthropods, organisms with jointed legs and an external skeleton. However, they both belong to different groups or classes within the arthropods. Insects belong to the class Insecta and spiders to the class Arachnida.
However, spiders do have a place in the insect world as significant predators of insects.
ERIC GILHOOLEY
Stanley, Co Durham
