Halloween is just around the corner and with it comes tales of creepy-crawly critters. But did you know that many of those ‘scary’ wildlife species are essential to keeping our ecosystems in balance? One of the best examples of this is the spider.
Ohio is home to over 620 different types of spiders, most of which are tiny and completely harmless to humans. Most spiders will go completely unnoticed, but they play a very important role in keeping the food chain in balance. Spiders mainly eat insects and help to keep their populations in check. This includes helping to control pest insects in agricultural fields and orchards. Even the few species that share our buildings are important to keeping the indoor pest population down (including mosquitos!).
So, next time you see a spider, think of all its insect-eating benefits before rejecting it from your home or harming it.
To learn more about Ohio spiders, view the Common Spiders of Ohio Field Guide.http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/…/publi…/id%20guides/pub5140.pdf