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Johnson: Been a good year for orb-weavers

Don’t freak out just yet because they’re not exactly taking over — it’s just a really good year to be a spider.

link Sharna Johnson

It might be disconcerting to some, especially those suffering from arachnophobia, but with the optimal conditions on the High Plains in recent weeks, spiders are loving life, and the region is being decorated with webs to prove it.

The spiders most commonly making an appearance in the area these days are known as orb-weavers, a classification that accounts for more than 3,000 types of spiders distinctly known for their spiral web building.

They start out really tiny and manage to escape notice, but they are always growing and the more they eat, the bigger they and their webs can get — often averaging 6 feet across.

Some orb-weavers can be particularly disturbing to look at because they can grow very large, often have colorful markings and can have body shapes similar to dangerous spiders such as the black widow, which has a large, round abdomen and long, skinny legs.

Unlike the black widow, however, which can inflict a painful and potentially fatal bite, orb-weavers are considered non-aggressive to humans, rarely bite and have very low toxicity venom.

In fact, the greatest risk orb-weavers pose to people is the fright that kicks in after walking through one of their webs, which is really much harder on them because not only do they have to rebuild their masterpiece, they’ve just been attacked by a terrifying, flailing and yelling gargantuan web crasher.

At home in gardens and fields, orb-weavers are dedicated hunters who stretch their large webs between tree tops, near outdoor lights and pretty much between any objects that will maximize their opportunities. Some of them even build a new web each day.

As much as they may creep some people out, they are actually a big help to the area right now, considering extra rainy summers mean population booms in all kinds of species, especially the ones people really don’t like, such as flies, crop-eating grasshoppers, moths and so on.

And the area needs all the help it can get.

“The higher than normal amount of rainfall this spring/summer has caused a spike in grasshoppers and insects generally. Therefore, the spiders, which eat only insects, are very happy this year,” said Darren Pollock, the invertebrate zoologist — or, official bug guy — at Eastern New Mexico University’s Biology Department.

In fact, Pollock said the high number of insects in the area is stimulating all kinds of bug-chowing critters — lizards, toads, praying mantises, dragonflies, and yes, spiders.

A sweep of the ground at night with a bright light will reveal the twinkling golden eyes of wolf spiders in every direction, Pollock said, noting that their population is also flourishing of late.

Extremely adept hunters with great eyesight, wolf spiders can certainly put a dent in the insect population and, though they’re most likely to run away from people, they are capable of a non-lethal but painful bite when provoked.

And they’ve been so successful this year; Pollock said he suspects the spiders the area is seeing at this point are the second generation to hatch this season.

For some people, the eight-legged among us are a terrifying presence, an awareness of which prompts screams and a frenzied scramble for the nearest object with which to kill them — and for those folks, there’s no convincing them spiders come with benefits.

For the more tolerant, however, it serves to remember that in those years when it’s good to be a spider, it’s also very good to have spiders around.

Sharna Johnson is a writer who is always searching for ponies. You can reach her at [email protected]