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As far as I know, the first use of the phrase "spider robot".

In one of these cubbyholes under the bench a large black spider crouched motionless. That is, it looked like a spider and its glittering dark eyes seemed alive. Its body was as big as that of a chicken and its inch-thick legs would have straightened out to a full three feet in length apiece if they were not gracefully curved to support the huge body. If it were a spider it was of no species of spiders known on Earth — or for that matter, any other place in the universe other than Jerry’s mind and workshop. (Spider Robot from 'The Mystery of Element 117' by Milton K. Smith) It was a robot shaped like a spider. Jerry had built it to act as a bodyguard, and put into it reflexes that would cause it to attack anything that entered the room. When he slept the robot’s reflexes acted and the spider stood guard. When he was awake he could control it verbally or by a pocket radio. The word “quiet” shut off its reflexes. After nearly loosing his life once when he fell asleep without turning on the spider’s reflexes, he had fixed it so that his breathing while asleep would activate its reflexes so it could protect him. He had built it in the shape of a giant spider because a man is more afraid of that shape than any other — especially if it is unbelieveably large and springing through the air with its glistening eyes and clashing mandibles. The sight of it would paralyze the most daring of marauders automatically, leaving them wide open. While Jerry slept the robot lurked under the workbench, its eyes taking in the whole room, its legs motionless until some sudden movement would cause them to spring.

Technovelgy from The Mystery of Element 117, by Milton K. Smith. Published by Amazing Stories in 1949 Additional resources -

Here's the excerpt with the phrase "spider robot":

The door was open. Inside three men lay motionless on the floor. Atop one of them was the shattered remains of the spider robot.

A look of frustrated rage entered Jerry’s eyes. One of the policemen was speaking.

“We shot the spider thing,” he was saying apologetically. “The elevator boy told us afterward it was a mechanical gadget of yours, but we thought it was alive at the time.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from The Mystery of Element 117
  More Ideas and Technology by Milton K. Smith
  Tech news articles related to The Mystery of Element 117
  Tech news articles related to works by Milton K. Smith

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