Webs Aren’t for All Spiders

By Kelly Vowels

Arachnophobia, or the fear of spiders, is a common fear often used during Halloween to scare kids. While people hang cobwebs and spider decorations around their homes, not all spiders actually build webs. Though all spiders produce silk, many don’t create webs for trapping prey. Orb weavers, garden spiders, and black widows are among the common species that do.

Orb-weaver, Araneidae

Orb weavers spin the familiar spiral webs, with some species brightly colored during the day and others duller, hunting at night. The spiders we typically see are females, as males are often too busy searching for mates to build webs. Females sit at the center of the web, waiting for prey to get caught. Sometimes, we humans get tangled up in these webs, but when an insect is trapped, the spider injects it with toxins, wraps it in silk, and waits for it to die before feeding. In the fall, orb weavers and their webs become more noticeable as they grow larger.

Jumping Spider, Salticidae

Not all spiders rely on webs. Jumping spiders stalk and pounce on prey, using their exceptional vision. With eight eyes, they have almost 360-degree vision, excellent depth perception, and even color vision. These spiders can leap over twenty times their body length to catch prey. Crab spiders, by contrast, wait on flowers, blending into their surroundings by changing color to match the blooms. This transformation can take anywhere from 2 to over 20 days. The goldenrod crab spider, for example, can switch between white and yellow. Trapdoor spiders use ambush tactics, lying in wait underground and building silk-covered doors to surprise their prey.

Spiders use their silk for much more than web-building. They create silk retreats to hide from predators, use silk lines for safety as they move, protect their egg sacs, and even balloon on the wind to travel great distances. Spider silk is not only strong but highly versatile, with different types used for various tasks—webs, holding prey, egg protection, communication, and more. Some spiders even recycle their silk by consuming their old webs before spinning new ones.

Black widow, Latrodectus

Spiders are vital to the ecosystem, eating large numbers of insects and serving as prey for other animals. They help control populations of mosquitoes and agricultural pests, making them beneficial despite their scary reputation. This Halloween and fall season, let’s appreciate spiders for their ecological importance rather than fear them.

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