Visit us on the Web at www.ontarionature.org Written by Kerry G. Everitt / Design & Illustrations by Judie L. Sho re FAMILY NATURE NOTES – WINTER 2009 Controlling Many people, unfortunately, kill spiders just because they are spiders and do not realize the Spiders vital role they play in the food web. Using pesticides in or around your home is not a good idea, since such chemicals can be harmful to other species and to Our Eight-Legged Friends Garden your family and pets. spider If you have a spider problem, the best way to reduce their House Spider population is to reduce the number of insects in the house so that the spiders will naturally go outside in search of food. A damp basement will attract a number of different Match the spider types of insects and, as a result, spiders. Often, using a dehumidifier is effective in reducing insect infestations in Spiders basements. Check the caulking around doors and windows with its web if you have crawling beetles or ants in your house. Reduc - House spider: Funnel-web Spider: ing clutter may also help. Insects like dark and damp areas, n spiderwebs in the garden on a dewy Because spiders help to control insect so organizing things into bins and containers will mean morning, droplets of water glisten like populations, killing a spider leads to Black-footed Spider: Garden Spider: that insects have fewer cracks and crevices in which to live. Ocrystals. The spider is nowhere in sight. an increase in the number of other Instead of squashing spiders that are in your house, Why would a tiny arachnid work so hard to cre - insects in a habitat — even if that capture and release them outside. They are delicate but ate a web only to abandon it? Read on to learn habitat is your house! more about the exciting lives of spiders. a b relatively easy to catch, using a clear glass or cup and a Although many people SPIDERS INSECTS piece of paper. Carefully cover the spider with the glass, Spiders belong to the class Arachnida, think that spiders are just • have 8 legs • have 6 legs taking care not to catch one of its legs under the edge. which includes scorpions, ticks, mites and har - “bugs,” they are not • have 2 body segments • have 3 body segments Slowly slide the piece of paper under the glass, trapping vestmen, also known as daddy-long-legs. More insects and, except for than 2,500 spider species are found throughout (cephalothorax (head, thorax, and the spider. Turn the cup right side up. The smooth edge of their size, have very little and abdomen) and abdomen) the glass is too slippery for many types of spiders to climb, North America. Nearly every part and habitat in common with insects. have up to 8 simple eyes have 2 compound eyes but just in case, leave the piece of paper on top! Take the of Ontario has many spider species. Spiders are arachnids and • • do not have antennae have antennae spider outside and release it away from where it could be Spiders have a sinister reputation and are are more closely related to • • accidentally trampled. viewed as dangerous pests. So many people are scorpions and ticks • do not have wings • may have wings than to insects. If you have spiders outside your house, for example, frightened of these tiny predators that fear of around your porch lights, consider changing the type of spiders has a name, arachnophobia. Hollywood A spider’s head is called the cephalothorax, bulb in the light. Nocturnal insects such as moths are has perpetuated this fear, making numerous or prosoma. All eight legs are attached S films in which spiders play an evil role. As a attracted to white lights. Changing to yellow bulbs may u to this body part. The abdomen, in addition p p result, many people, unfortunately, kill spiders l to containing the spider’s digestive tract d reduce the number of nighttime insects, and therefore e c m just because they are spiders and do not realize spiders, inhabiting your porch. If you are concerned about e and major organs, also contains silk glands. n t the vital role they play in the food web. spiders getting inside your house, carefully brush the webs t Spiders produce a variety of different types o O away with a broom, first check - O of silk, each of which is used for different N Although most spiders are venomous, few N N ing to see that the spider N species have fangs that are capable of piercing purposes. Sticky silk is used to trap prey, A A T is not in the web. T human skin. Most spider fangs are very small while strong silk strands are used to wrap U Did you know… U R Many spider species R and weak. Of the spiders that may be able to up prey and to secure the web. E E like a snake, a spider must will move if their , W bite people, few have venom strong enough to shed its skin as it grows? Most Spiders lay eggs contained in an egg sac, i webs are continu - n cause more than the stinging and swelling of a t a rounded, usually beige or brown sphere spiders moult between four and e r ally destroyed. mosquito-bite-like reaction, in people. 2 that they wedge safely into a corner or 12 times before reaching 0 The fly is an insect 0 9 Most spiders bite because they are threatened, crevice, or that the female may carry. maturity. b : r e d i p s n e d r a G , a : r e d i p s b e w - l e n n u F for example, when you accidentally trap one The egg sac contains up to several hundred : s r e w s n A , d : r e d i p s d e t o o f - k c a l B , c : r e d i p s e s u o H with part of your body. Spiders may bite to eggs, and a spider may produce a number defend their egg sacs, just as many other of egg sacs in a season. 201-366 Adelaide St. West, Toronto, ON M5V 1R9 Tel: (416) 444-8419, creatures protect their young. 1 800 440-2366 Fax: (416) 444-9866 E-mail: [email protected], Website: www.ontarionature.org Copy Editor: Geri Savits-Fine, Reviewer: Jimmy Blackwood, Printing: DT P Inc. Spider silk, also called gossamer, is produced As its name suggests, the long-bodied cellar spider is by the spinnerets at the back end of the spider. often found in the corners of ceilings and along baseboards House spider with in basements of buildings. This spider has a thin, brown The silk is liquid but quickly hardens when it egg sac and young comes into contact with air. Silk is used to capture spiderlings body and long slender legs. When disturbed, it spins and hold prey, to make egg sacs and to make shel - quickly in a circular motion, giving it the name ter. Young spiders, called spiderlings, spin long silk “vibrating spider.” Unlike other spiders, this species does threads that act like sails, carrying them on air cur - not clean and repair its webs but simply adds to them Long-bodied cellar spider rents to other locations. Because of the look of the continually, making a large network of entangled silk threads. silk threads coming out of the back of the spider, this process is sometimes called ballooning. Some The funnel-web spider , often found on windowsills or in crevices of base - spiders create a safety line of silk similar to the ments and garages, is a large and hairy but harmless spider. It spins a cone- Did you know… ropes and harnesses mountain climbers use. The or funnel-shaped web leading back to a short tunnel, a strand of spider silk is spider attaches a line of silk thread to a stationary where the spider awaits its prey. If an insect stronger than the same object and then lowers itself gently and safely to an becomes entangled in the web, the spider rushes thickness of steel? object below. Spider silk is incredibly strong but out of its tunnel to also lightweight. A strand of spider silk long attack the creature. enough to circle the earth would weigh less than 450 grams, just a little less than the weight of a Spiders in pound of butter. House spider wrapping Your Home Did you know… prey in silk Your home is great habitat for spiders; it’s warm, cozy the average lifespan of a spider is one to two and usually has at least some insects living years, but in some in it no matter how much you clean! cases, and in some species, Tarantula a spider may live to be up to Funnel-web spider 20 years old! Some people keep spiders as pets. The tarantula is The two most common household spiders in Ontario one of the most common pet spiders. It can grow to are the black-footed spider and the house spider . Spiders have a leg span of 12 centimetres, The black-footed spider is only about one cen - usually prey on but some species may have one as timetre long and is pale yellowish beige with small arthropods — wide as 30 centimetres! black fangs. As its name suggests, this invertebrates with an external species has black feet, but the colour is not skeleton.