![]() ![]() Spiders feed on a wide variety of insects and are therefore considered beneficial in the garden when they eat pests including aphids, caterpillars, cucumber beetles, flies, grasshoppers, leafhoppers, plant bugs, and thrips. The crab spider Misumena vatia with a bee In the spring, spiderlings move from their overwintering site by crawling or ballooning, a process by which they produce a silken thread on which they are carried by the wind. After laying an egg mass, the female spider dies. ![]() These eggs may overwinter as is or the individual eggs within may hatch into spiderlings that remain protected in the egg mass until spring. A typical spider’s life cycle begins when egg masses are laid in debris in the fall. However, there are a few species that may live for several years. Most spiders complete a single generation in one year. Most spiders don’t possess mouthparts Spiders lay eggs in masses. People often mistakenly blame spiders for bites caused by fleas, ticks, or mites. Spiders rarely attack humans unless provoked and even then they are more likely to flee than fight. The venom produced by spiders is used to paralyze and kill their prey. Although most spiders are venomous, they are harmless to humans with a few exceptions-the black widow and the brown recluse being the most common. Spiders have unique mouthparts comprised of chelicerae, or jaws, that end in fangs. Spiders have jaws ending in fangs (not visible behind the orange palps) but few can bite through human skin. ![]() These 6 spinnerets allow the spider to produce silk throughout their entire life while only a few insects can produce silk, and then only during specific life stages. Finally, spiders possess unique organs beneath their abdomen called spinnerets. Spiders differ from insects in that spiders have 8 legs, not 6 they also have only 2 body regions (a cephalothorax and abdomen) instead of 3 (head, thorax, abdomen) and they lack wings and antennae, both of which insects possess. The tarantula is one of the largest North American spiders, found only in the southern and western US. When Arachne lost, she was turned into a spider and destined to weave forever.There are more than 35,000 named species of spiders in the world with 3,000 of them making their home in North America. The princess Arachne challenged the goddess Athene to a weaving contest. The name arachind comes from Greek mythology. Spiders are arthropods belonging to the order Araneae in the class Arachnida. But some, such as the desertas wolf spider of Portugal and the Kaua’i cave spider of Hawaii, are endangered.Anyone who gardens has undoubtedly encountered spiders at one time or another. Many species are considered to have stable populations. The young hatch inside, then emerge and climb on mom’s back until they’re old enough to live on their own. ![]() Once mated, the female spins a round egg sac, attaches it to her abdomen and it carries around with her. When it’s time to mate, male wolf spiders attract females by rhythmically waving their long mouthparts (palps) or drumming them on leaves. One species has even been found living in wheat crops, feeding on pests such as aphids. From deserts to rainforests, grasslands to suburban lawns, wolf spider thrive there’s likely one nearby. While some species are found on cold, rocky mountaintops, others live in volcanic lava tubes. Wolf spiders have figured out how to live just about anywhere. Sometimes they dig burrows or make holes under rocks or logs to live in. The dark, mottled colors on their bodies help them blend in with decaying plant matter while hunting or avoiding predators. Most wolf spiders spend their time on the ground. Two large eyes gleam from the top of the head two more large eyes peer out the front and four smaller eyes form a row just above the spider’s mouth. Once wolf spiders catch their prey, they either mash it up into a ball or inject venom into it, liquefying the internal organs into a wolf-spider smoothie.Īll wolf spiders have eight dark eyes arranged around their heads, or cephalothorax. Most of the thousands of species in this family don’t spin webs instead, they chase and pounce on their insect prey like the wolves that inspire their name. Wolf spiders are the sprinters of the spider world. ![]()
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