Garden Spiders
Spiders are beneficial inhabitants of any garden, ecosystem, or home because of their important contributions to biological control of pest insects. Spiders are considered to be the most important terrestrial predators, eating tons of pest insects or other small arthropods every year. Spiders are generalist predators that are willing to eat almost any insect they can catch. They are abundant and found in most habitats. They only need to be left alone!
Although there are more spiders than all vertebrate species combined, spiders are relatively poorly known and needlessly feared. Actually, there are VERY few spiders whose bites require medical attention. Most spiders do not have fangs that are strong enough to pierce human skin or venom which can affect us. Of the 38,000 spider species described, there are only four species in the USA which are poisonous (black widow, brown recluse, hobo, and yellow sac spiders).
How to Increase the Number of Spiders in Your Garden.
Use mulch. It provides protection and humidity.
Provide places for web attachment or homes: Crates, tall plants, bundles of hay.
Leave areas untilled or leave plant stalks for overwintering habitats.
Grow flowers that bring in prey.
If spraying pesticides, spray at the times the spiders are less active or use a pesticide
that has fewer effects on the spiders.
Having plenty of shrubs in the garden will give spiders somewhere to make their webs. By not using pesticide sprays, there will be more insects for the spiders to eat and this will also help to stop you poisoning them.
How long do spiders live? Most spiders live for 1 to 2 years. Tarantulas and trapdoor spiders live for 6 to 20 years. In temperate regions, spiders overwinter as eggs or adults.
If you don't mind a couple of spiders in the house, you can help them by making sure they don't die of dehydration in your centrally heated home. Do this by putting down a small shallow dish of water where spiders can find it - on the floor in a corner is a good place, but don't forget to top it up. Putting a few small pebbles in the dish, big enough so that the tops are above the water level, will help the spiders get to the water.
Sometimes spiders overwinter in kitchens. A corner of a window frame, next to where the window opens, is a popular place, especially if they have an egg sac to protect. If you have a spider in a spot like this, keep an eye on it when the windows mist up during cooking. Often, the spider will come down from its hiding place and begin to 'harvest' the moisture with its front legs, dragging them across the misted glass and leaving a sort of herringbone pattern behind.
When the windows don't mist up, you can flick a few drops of water onto the glass near to the spider, and it may well come down and partake of a couple.
If you don't want spiders in the house - don't kill them, but carefully catch them in a glass and gently put them outside.