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Discover Nature: Spiders Spinning Webs

This week on Discover Nature, watch for spiders spinning silken webs, and “ballooning.”

Spiders have glands that produce liquid silk, and spinnerets near their abdomens weave many strands together to form a thread that is both strong and elastic.

Spiders use their silk for building webs, capturing prey, lining living- and hibernation chambers, and for constructing draglines and egg cases.

To travel, most spiders will climb to a high spot, elevate their abdomens and throw out silken threads.  Caught by air currents, the tiny arachnids appear to fly. This behavior is known as “ballooning.”

More than 300 spider species call Missouri home, yet only two have venom that can harm people. In fact, spiders do more to help us than to hurt us. They eat more insects than birds and bats combined, and destroy huge numbers of crop-damaging insects on agricultural land. 

Take a hike to see Missouri’s vast fall colors this week, but take time, also, to notice and appreciate the delicate architecture of arachnids.

Learn more about Missouri’s native spiders with the Missouri Department of Conservation’s online Field Guide, and find places to take an autumn nature hike with their online Atlas.  

Discover Nature is sponsored by the Missouri Department of Conservation. 

Trevor serves as KBIA’s weekday morning host for classical music. He has been involved with local radio since 1990, when he began volunteering as a music and news programmer at KOPN, Columbia's community radio station. Before joining KBIA, Trevor studied social work at Mizzou and earned a masters degree in geography at the University of Alabama. He has worked in community development and in urban and bicycle/pedestrian planning, and recently served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zambia with his wife, Lisa Groshong. An avid bicycle commuter and jazz fan, Trevor has cycled as far as Colorado and pawed through record bins in three continents.
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