Give this little spider the respect it’s due
Let’s be honest, what’s scarier than a spider?
Oh, I don’t know — maybe the red dye in candy corn?
Here we are, living our best life on a glorious autumn day when, suddenly, unexpectantly, we pass through a silky soft strand of what just might be a … SPIDER WEB!
Is it necessary to jump five feet in the air or belt out a shriek that rivals Drew Barrymore’s in “Scream” or, worse, grab a shovel?
Spiders are an important member of the ecosystem and something a gazillion times smaller than the average human, says Andres Ortega, aquatic resources supervisor and former invertebrate ecologist with the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County.
They should not incite a visceral reaction. After all, aren’t we the same people who celebrate butterflies and chase the glow of lightning bugs?
As the saying goes, “Everything has beauty but not everyone sees it.”
Still, Ortega says, “All of Mother Nature’s creatures deserve consideration and respect” — even in fall when spider webs are everywhere, even on the eve of Halloween when oversized likenesses are grouped with vampires and zombies, and even when the creatures inadvertently cross the border into our homes.
To know a spider’s purpose is to appreciate a spider’s purpose, he said.
Spiders are not insects. They are arachnids, he said. Spiders have eight legs, while insects have six. Spiders have one or two main body parts, insects have three. And while spiders cannot fly, most insects have wings.
This means spiders don’t have the option to migrate south for the winter. When the temperature starts to dip and the sun goes low in the sky, spiders have two options: bulk up to wait out the cold or, anticipating death, attract a mate, breed and lay eggs to keep the species going.
Either way, if it seems they are coming out of the woodwork lately it’s only because their increased activity makes them more obvious, Ortega said.
Spiders eat other small invertebrates such as gnats, mosquitoes and flies, which helps keep balance in nature.
Spiders also are prey for larger organisms — birds, mammals, reptiles. They are an important