Our Friends The Garden Spiders

Garden spiders are one of the more beneficial creatures to have in the yard or garden, although in the eyes of many they can be rather frightening. Some of us simply don’t care for creepy crawly things, particularly on us, and spiders have two more legs to creep and crawl with than do insects. For the most part, we fear walking through a spider web, while the spider happens to be in residence. This actually seldom will happen during the daylight hours. Most garden spiders spin their webs at night, and stay out of sight, though near their webs, during the daylight hours. When we do see the garden spiders in their webs, it is most apt to be in the early morning hours, or immediately after an insect has become caught up in the web.

A Harmless Spider

Garden spiders are much more afraid of us than we need to be of them. They do have fangs and could bite given the opportunity, but generally would try to get away. Spiders have very soft bodies and are easily crushed or injured, so will normally not approach something much larger than they are. There may be exceptions to this general rule, but garden spiders are not a part of that particular group. All spiders are venomous, but with very few exceptions, the venom is not toxic enough to harm, or even irritate humans, and most spiders do not have jaws strong enough to puncture human skin. One of the most venomous spiders we are apt to run across is the daddy-long-legs. These spiders have such a small mouth, such as small fangs, plus such a limited amount of venom, that they can do us no harm. When the spider does kill its prey it does so by injecting venom through its fangs into its prey. It then uses digestive enzymes to liquefy the prey before feasting on it. Garden spiders do not eat solid food.

The Web Is A Thing Of Beauty

Even if the sight of a garden spider can make some of us uncomfortable, nearly everyone has an appreciation for their web. The garden spider’s web is a thing of architectural skill and aesthetic beauty, especially in the early morning when the dew has settled onto the strands. A garden spider’s web is circular, and typically around a foot in diameter, although a web two feet in diameter isn’t all that uncommon. A little known fact regarding the garden spider’s web is that the inner portion of it is almost always made of recycled material. The spider eats this inner portion daily and then rebuilds it, using the eaten web to replenish some of the silk-making materials in its body. Another interesting fact about the garden spider’s web is, while the silk could conceivably have some commercial uses, one would have to harvest the silk from a single spider at a time. Put several spiders in a “silk production” container, and they would kill one another, with the survivor perhaps then constructing its web.

Males Live A Life Of Danger

Male garden spiders are smaller than the females, usually about half the size of the female. While the typical male may have a strong mating instinct and actively seek out a female for companionship, it also must have a strong survival instinct. It is quite common for a female spider to kill and eat the male after mating. Those who study garden spiders have noted that the male garden spider goes about the mating process very carefully, and in a manner designed to ensure its survival. Where it learns this no one knows, it must simply be programmed into the spider.

When you see garden spiders around your house, or in your yard, leave them alone. They are doing a great deal of good, can’t bother you, and probably wouldn’t even if they could.

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