After the wet and well, more wet summer we’ve had in these parts, it’s no wonder that the spiders think that it is fall. They’re busily spinning webs in my yard, my house, under the stairs, and across the plants in the garden. Spiders seem to sense the incoming fall and Halloween season and love to do their share of the decorating.
Whether spiders give you the creepy crawlies or you’re in love with these useful mini beasts, they are fascinating creatures for children to watch. When you’re outdoors exploring in the late days of summer and early fall, take a look for your web-building friends.
Spiders are different from insects. They have two body parts instead of three: a cephalothorax and an abdomen. They also have eight legs instead of the six sported by insects.
Spiders are amazing. They create many different kinds of silk, including super sticky silk that can capture prey. They manage to create webs and walk on the correct parts of their web without getting stuck. On a dewy morning, go out web watching in the garden, the park, or the forest. Draw the many shapes of webs that you see. Take photos of the webs, the light, and the dew and enjoy the ways in which light and water work together. Go home and try to fashion the same web out of thread – I dare you! It’s surprisingly difficult to construct a proper spider web, unless you’re a spider, of course.
But wait! Do all spiders build webs? Certainly not. One of my favorites in the funnel web spider. This spider creates a tunnel-like web and hides at the end of it, waiting for prey to step onto the web. Then it pounces. If you find a funnel web in a hole in a tree, blow gently on it and watch the spider emerge.
While spiders might be the objects of fear and Halloween mystery, they are amazing creatures who create beautiful, functional structures in your garden.