Why are we afraid of the itsy bitsy spider?

I was an arachnophobe most of my life, and the nightmare-provoking giant spider Shelob in Lord of the Rings was no help. Still, as a kid I loved Charlotte of Charlotte’s Web and was a Spiderman fan. I’m here to say that I have been cured, and there’s hope for you too by getting to know this amazing order of arthropods and their importance in our ecosystem.

Spiders are important contributors to the web of life as mid-level predators. That means they eat and are eaten. Birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish, spider wasps and humans are their key predators. Carolina Wrens are the best bird spider hunters around my house. A rough estimate of 3000-5000 bird species eat spiders, especially as baby food. I’ve watched many spiders taken into our chickadee nesting box.
As predators, spiders consume insects including pest species like mites, aphids, and weevils. Remove spiders, and insect populations can get out of control.

Spiders are easily separated from insects – look for 2 body parts, 8 legs, 4 pairs of simple eyes, and no wings. Despite having so many eyes, many species have poor eyesight. Instead, they rely on a good sense of smell and sensitivity to touch – one purpose for many of the hairs on their legs.

All spiders make silk – one of the strongest natural fibers known. Most of us are familiar with silk webs, but less than half of spider species spin webs. Other silk uses include using strands as a safety catch from falls or to escape predators, making tents for weather shelters or molting protection, and as wrapping material to restrain paralyzed prey. Some spiders, particularly juveniles, also make “balloons” for air transport in light breezes using silk narrower than the human eye can detect. Humans tried farming spiders for silk, but since spiders also eat each other, that didn’t work out.

Spiders use many different techniques to capture their prey. We’re most familiar with spiders that use webs to capture prey. Best known are the Orb Weaver spiders, a family that spin beautiful and sometimes large circular webs. The silk contains a sticky substance to hold prey long enough for the spider to inject its fast-acting venom to paralyze it. These spiders often wait in a hidden retreat for prey to get trapped or chase prey into webs.

Other families that use webs in our yards include Funnel Weavers, which design webs with a hole where the spider waits for prey to fall in. This family includes Grass spiders, whose webs can drape over lawns in the fall. So why don’t these spiders get caught in their own webs? It’s a combination of carefulness, hair placement, and a non-stick chemical coating on legs.

Crab, Jumping, and Wolf Spiders are common families that don’t use webs. All have good eyesight and rely on injecting venom to immobilize their prey immediately upon capture. Their names fit their hunting techniques.

Crab spiders use camouflage and surprise. They’ll sit motionless with open “crab legs” waiting for prey to come within reach. Then they wrap it with their legs and grasp until it’s immobilized from the venom. Some of these crabs specialize in hunting on flowers. They can change colors between yellow and white over a few days to match the color of the flower they’re sitting on.

Jumping spiders have a characteristic eye pattern including 2 large, front, flat eyes. They use a stalk- and-pounce hunting technique. Fitting to their name, that pounce is a jump that can reach up to 50 times their body size. Jumpers lay a single strand of silk that they use as a safety harness, so if they miss their mark, they can pull themselves back up. Most jumpers are very small and are good for household pest control. They’re curious and will check you out if you get close for a look.

Wolf spiders are active hunters that will stalk, chase, and pounce. As night feeders they have dark coloration. Ants, beetles, and crickets are common prey. Female wolf spiders are known for their parental care. They carry their egg case under their abdomen for weeks, and then their hatched spiderlings on top of their abdomens.

But don’t spiders bite?? A few species will if provoked, but spiders don’t attack humans. They’re mostly shy and avoid people. Unfortunately, we commonly blame spiders for the bites that actually come from insects.

Even if you aren’t ready to like spiders, consider leaving some webs around your yard to feed on pest species or as Carolina Wren food.

Karen Campbell, is a Lehigh Valley Audubon board member and Certified Pollinator Steward. She shares her work on FocusOnNatives.com and Instagram @KarenInNature. Karen provided the content and permission for use of her images for this article.