In October, many hang large fake spider webs as spooky decorations but the spiders that make the real version can be a big benefit to pest control in gardens.
It is this time of year that the Orb-Weavers are busy spinning these massive webs, which can reach as many as three feet in diameter. Oftentimes these webs are found in gardens, parks or forests, where pest control is very much needed.
“Orb-weavers use their silk to create a natural, sticky trap—when a bug lands on the web, it struggles to free itself,” according to the Farmers’ Almanac. “That vibration signals to the spider that it has caught prey. The spider responds by quickly injecting the prey with paralyzing venom, preventing its escape.”
The spiders, which are not harmful to humans, eat twice their weight a day in aphids, ants, flies, leafhoppers, leaf miners, grasshoppers, mosquitoes, beetles, wasps, moths and caterpillars.