Spiders are animals that appear minimally in the How to Train Your Dragon franchise.
Description
Spiders (Order Araneae) belong to Phylum Arthropoda, which means they are somewhat related to beetles, crabs, shrimp, and flies, to name a few. Spiders are especially known because they produce fine filaments of silk - made of assorted special proteins - to build nests and webs out of to live in or on and catch prey. Spiders generally eat insects, but large species have been known to catch small mammals and small birds. Many spiders are also venomous, but only a few groups will cause great harm to humans, such as species of Widow Spiders.
The spider mentioned in School of Dragons, the Golden Orb Spider (also called Golden silk orb-weaver), is one of several species in the Genus Nephila. They are found mostly in warm climates and would not have been encountered by historic Vikings. Golden Orb Spiders are known for their large webs made from yellow - or golden - silk.
Spiders are also mentioned in the School of Dragons Expansion, "Call of the Deathsong".
| “ | I've seen this [building nests] with bees and spiders. They collect materials for their nests. Death Songs only seem to collect animals - for lunch! | ” |
| — Rogue Dragon Rider |
Function
In School of Dragons, spiders are used to get silk for the player. Spiders have been harvested for their silk through history, but not on any large scale as silkworms have. There have been attempts to make textiles with the silk of the Golden Orb Spider. Spider silk has also been used to cover wounds and even as nets to catch very small fish. However, spider silk has never been used extensively due to difficulty harvesting the amounts needed for large scale production of any items.
In reality, spider venom is a less polluting alternative to conventional pesticides, as they are deadly to insects but the great majority are harmless to vertebrates. Possible medical uses for spider venom are currently being studied. Some cultures eat spiders, particularly larger varieties such as the Tarantula.
Appearances
Dragons: Riders of Berk
In the episode, "Dragon Flower", Fishlegs hypothesizes that Scauldron venom might be used in the same way that spider venom is.
| “ | In a perfect world, if it eats the flowers [ Blue Oleander ], maybe its venom can be used as an antidote, like with snakes and spiders. | ” |
| — Fishlegs about Scauldron venom |
Dragons: Race to the Edge, Season 4
Spiders are mentioned briefly during the episode, "Saving Shattermaster". Snotlout has completed a series of tests to become King of the Defenders of the Wing, and must complete one more test. He asks what the final test might entail.
| “ | All right, Throkie. What do ya got? Man-eating killer boars? Spiders? Whispering Death? Screaming Death? | ” |
| — Snotlout |
Games
School of Dragons
Spiders are seasonal animals which usually are on sale during Dreadfall (around Halloween). They cost 8 gems and give 1 silk in 30 minutes after feeding. Spiders and their webs also appear in the game as part of Dreadfall decorations.
Cave spiders can be seen in the Whispering Death Tunnels beneath Berk, using the Golden Orb Spider model.
There is also a Stable Quest called "The Spider's Parlor" that the player can send non-active dragons on. It implies the presence of spiders because of a "mysterious web".
| “ | A mysterious web is entangling all of Healer's Island. We need to cut the dragon free! | ” |
Dragons: Rise of Berk
A spider on its web is an item that can be collected while searching with Toothless in order to complete collections during Dreadfall.
Other Mentions
The dragon species Death Song was ispired by spiders, particularly the Black Widow.
| “ | Although deceptively beautiful in appearance and melody, the Death Song has a lethal quality that is reminiscent of the Black Widow. | ” |
| — Dragonpedia |
The dragon species Silkspanner appears to be inspired by spiders as it creates webs to trap its victims and has chelicerae, which are specific to spiders.
Gallery
References
Spider on Wikipedia
Golden silk orb-weaver on Wikipedia
| Spider (Franchise) uses Creative Commons Licensed content from the Dreamworks School of Dragons Wiki page The Farm. The list of authors can be found on the page revision history (view authors). | 
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