Spider webs are natural, beneficial symbol of Halloween
WHITEHOUSE – Spider webs can be amazing creations that, like fingerprints, can often be used to identify the species that built it.
This time of year it’s the big orb webs – those large magnificent webs constructed with concentric rings of silk – that come front and center. They’re a standard symbol in the spooky-look scenes crafted for Halloween.
Those big webs are often the work of the black and yellow Argiope, often called the black and yellow garden spider because, well, it’s the inch-long spider often observed in our gardens, hanging upside down in those classically perfect webs.
Unbelievably, those big webs, up to two feet in diameter, only take a few hours for the female spider to complete. There are structural strands that support the web’s shape and form the framework for the sticky silks that actually capture prey. It’s said that each night she will consume the sticky strands and replace them.
Spiders and their link to Halloween had its start back in medieval times when spiders, along with black cats and rats, were believed to be associated with evil witches. Besides, what would a haunted house or a spooky cave be without spider webs?
Have fun with them as a symbol for Halloween, but think of them as natural and very beneficial pest removal specialists.
This web was captured in all its spooky beauty at the Blue Creek Metropark.
