The Secret World of Spider Webs
By (Author) Jan Beccaloni
Illustrated by Namasri Niumim
Thames & Hudson Ltd
Thames & Hudson Ltd
11th September 2025
United Kingdom
Children
Non Fiction
Hardback
48
Width 245mm, Height 295mm
A glorious insight into the remarkable work of spiders, featuring eight pages of foil stamping.
Despite their familiarity, spider webs are drastically under-appreciated, and yet without them, the world as we know it would be overrun by insects (spiders catch and consume 800 million tonnes of insects every year - roughly the same weight as all the humans in the world). Because spider webs are so successfully hidden, very little is known about these beautiful but deadly traps. From classic orb webs, to spectacular tent webs, hidden trapdoor webs and water webs that attach to the surface of a flowing river, The Secret World of Spider Webs reveals the incredibly diverse ways spiders catch their prey.
Featuring foil-stamped illustrations that accentuate the intricacy of spiders' web designs, The Secret World of Spider Webs is a remarkable, beautiful and spine-tingling tribute to spiders.
The Secret World of Spider Webs is the first in a new series of children's non-fiction books that reveal under-appreciated and hidden natural wonders that are essential to Earth's biodiversity, including phytoplankton (supply half of the oxygen on Earth), bird nests (birds are vital to reforestation, pollination and pest control) and mycelia (underground network of fungi that are the connectors in forests).
Born and raised in Bangkok, Namasri Niumim has a degree in Fine Arts and Communication Design from the School of Architecture and Design at King Mongkut's University of Technology in Thonburi, Thailand. @namasriniumim Consultant Jan Beccaloni is the Senior Curator of Chelicerata (Arachnida, Xiphosura, Pycnogonida), Myriapoda, Tardigrada & Onychophora, at London's Natural History Museum and the author of the text book Arachnids. Jan was a Trustee of the the British Arachnological Society for over a decade, and has several species of spiders named after her.