Credit Kaldari – CC0 Public Domain
See below for an update to this post.
In my house is an all-natural mosquito control system. Patrolling the screen in our kitchen window, one on the outside and one on the inside, are two tiny spiders. I estimate them to be in the 5-6 mm range. I don’t know if they are the species in the picture, but they’re pretty close. Down in the channel where the window slides back and forth are the desiccated remains of numerous mosquitoes. In the morning, when I check in on them, I often find my little buddies with mosquitoes in their mouths. I imagine that they’re sucking the juices out of them.
They no longer startle when I come close to look at them. They just stand there with their mouths full of goodies while I talk to them. I tell them how clever they are. What good hunters. And I thank them for reducing the number of blood-suckers that I have to worry about.
In our house we have learned to accept the company of our little eight-legged friends.
rjb
Update:
It looks like we’re not the only people who appreciate spiders. Here’s a link to an article on Cell Press that talks about the bad press spiders get and the real good they do. And here’s a link to an article on Science News that summarizes the Cell article. Go arachnids.
rjb
