In Greek mythology, the most skillful weaver of Lydia who challenged the goddess Athena to a weaving contest.

Athena wove into her web the stories of those who had aroused the anger of the gods, while Arachne chose stories of the errors of the gods.

Enraged at the excellence of the work, Athena tore Arachne's web into pieces. Arachne hanged herself in grief and was transformed by Athena into a spider.

This was adopted as the spider family in science which includes scorpions, mites, and ticks.

The term arachnoid refers to anything that resembles a spider's web.