Growing up, I was terrified of spiders. A small dime-sized spider crawling up the wall was enough to send me screaming for help. Ones hanging from the ceiling by their silk were even worse, and my fear didn’t subside until they were killed. Now that I work in the entomology department, you can imagine why I feel a bit guilty about this. Thankfully, working here has given me a newfound appreciation for arachnids– so much that I willingly approached this orb weaver, who was hanging outside of my apartment the other day, in order to get a closer look.
It still looks quite creepy to me, but it’s also beautiful at the same time. Notice those colors and detail!
Orb weavers are an incredibly diverse group of arachnids, comprised of 21 different families. Their 230-million-year-old origin is still in question, but is currently being studied by Dr. Gustavo Hormiga and his Harvard University colleagues. You’ve likely come across these stunning artists and not even realized it. In Charlotte’s Web, a popular children’s novel by E.B. White, the character Charlotte was inspired by spiders belonging to the orb weaver family Araneidae.
The webs of orb weaver spiders are easily recognized by the “orb”-shape that they form. (How fitting– just in time for those ghostly orbs we see during Halloween!) It was surprising to me to learn how strong these webs actually are. Spider silk in general is stronger than steel, and the military is researching its applications as a material for bulletproof vests; a synthetic spider silk is currently in the works.
As we encounter this holiday full of plastic spiders and cotton cobwebs, try not to become too wrapped up in your arachnophobia and have a happy Halloween!