Three benefits of garden spiders

Arizona is home to many different types of spiders, including black widows, brown recluses, garden spiders, and wolf spiders. Some of these can be a threat to people and pets, while others can be useful. Sometimes the appearance of a spider is enough to make you want to squish them. Instead of rushing to eliminate spiders, learn more about why you may want to keep them around.

Garden Spider Appearance

Garden spiders have a black body with visually striking yellow marks. Female garden spiders can grow to be just over one inch in body length. This is roughly three times longer than male garden spiders. The large, vibrant garden spider may have a scary appearance, but they do provide a few important benefits.

1. Enjoy Your Backyard

When you have garden spiders on your property, you can expect to encounter fewer insects. This means that you can get yardwork done, do some gardening, or hang out in your backyard without having to worry as much about being bitten by mosquitoes or stung by bees. Since garden spiders also keep fly populations down, you can enjoy eating outside without having to constantly swat these pests away from your food.

2. Good for Plants

Garden spiders feed on many bugs that are considered pests, such as mosquitoes, flies, and beetles. Having garden spiders around may even benefit your plants and flowers. They can feast on insects that chew up foliage and damage gardens.

3. Pest Management

Pesky insects are active during the spring. During the intense Arizona summer, these pests try to sneak their way into your home. Garden spiders can be your first line of defense, waiting for these bugs to land on their web. Just like their prey, garden spiders are active in spring and continuing into fall.

Attract Garden Spiders

It may seem unusual to want to attract spiders to your yard. However, since they can help keep so many other insect populations in check, it may be worth considering. Garden spiders like sunny areas with lush landscapes. They need plenty of room to build their large web and attract insects.

Garden spiders spin intricate, circular webs that can be up to two feet in diameter. They will partially eat and rebuild the web daily. These spiders typically stay still in the center of the web and wait for vibrations that let them know prey has been caught.

Unless they build a web in an inconvenient spot, such as across a doorway, it’s best to leave them alone and let them do their job of reducing pests in your yard. Keep in mind these spiders may bite if they feel threatened. However, their venom isn’t usually harmful to humans.

If you have an insect problem that your garden spider can’t control, or if you’re unsure what type of spider is living in your yard contact Budget Brothers.