Many people have an innate fear of spiders, yet these tiny creatures are the environment’s unsung heroes without which the world as we know it would not exist.
Spiders consume some 120 kilos of insects per hectare daily. Without them, or with their numbers significantly reduced, there would be a dramatic escalation of the insect population resulting in the widespread destruction of crops, which would inevitably lead to famine and starvation on a global scale.
From their origins 360 million years ago, spiders have evolved in ways that enable them to survive in almost every environment on earth. The crowning glory of their evolutionary progress was the ability to produce silk, and it’s this amazing feature and their ingenious use of what is reputedly the world’s strongest natural fibre that has enabled spiders to become highly efficient predators.
Approximately 2,000 species of spiders call Australia home. Fortunately, only a few are capable of inflicting a bite that may cause significant pain or prove fatal to humans. but most spiders should be considered as beneficial members of the wildlife community, and not the enemy.
You can read more about these amazing creatures in my book AUSTRALIAN WILDLIFE ON YOUR DOORSTEP which is now in its second edition.
