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DON'T MISS!: IT'S GOT LEGS!
WATCH your back, Peter Parker. The American Museum of Natural History opens its “Spiders Alive!” exhibit tomorrow, curated by a real Spider-Man: scientist Norman Platnick.
Platnick assures us there are no “Arachnophobia”-like scenes here, quipping, “[A spider’s] instinct is to get as far away and quickly away from anything as large, loud and obnoxious as a human being.”
On display are about 20 species of live spiders — safely enclosed, of course — ranging from three types of tarantulas to the large-and-in-charge Goliath bird eater. Kids can also climb around on a model of a trapdoor spider that’s 50 times life-size.
“A fair percentage of our visitors, especially the kids, really have little or no contact with the natural world,” says Platnick. “So we want to show people that there is an astonishing diversity of animals on the planet.”
79th Street at Central Park West; 212-769-5100, amnh.org. Suggested admission: $19, adults; $10.50, kids.
— Gregory E. Miller