Some people have a phobia of certain insects: cockroaches, moths, wasps, spiders … or all of them. However, all animals have a utility and we should learn to respect them. Among the above, spiders are of vital importance to the environment. We want to explain to you what is the importance of spiders in nature so that, in this way, you know more details about these animals.
How important are spiders in nature
Spiders play an essential role in maintaining the natural balance, as they are voracious predators within the food scale in nature. They eat many other smaller insects that could become veritable pests if they did not fall into the nets to serve as food for the arachnids.
But, as is often the case, man interferes with the workings of nature for the worse. According to researchers from the Biodiversity and Conservation Area of the Rey Juan Carlos University (URJC) Samuel Prieto-Benítez and Marcos Méndez, the abundance and number of species of spiders are decreasing in their population due to some human uses of the land. In particular, the treatment of agricultural and grassland systems by men is seriously affecting spiders. On the other hand, in forests the damage is less or even does not occur.
The two researchers have studied whether spiders are more tolerant to human impacts, conducted a meticulous analysis of 173 scientific references published since 1980 and have concluded that spiders suffer the consequences of landscape transformation as much as any other animal.
Another benefit that spiders can produce is the regeneration of forests . Even after a fire, even if the native species die from the fire, immediately there are other spiders that come to the burned forest and begin to “work” for its regeneration. In fact, the first thing that explorers found after the devastating explosion of the Krakatoa volcano in 1883 was a spider.
So if you come across a spider, don’t kill it. He has a lot of work to do.
Importance of spiders in medicine
Many people proceed to remove any spider web when they see it, another runs out of fear, the most daring stare at it fascinated by its complex structure. Something that few know is that cobwebs have incredible qualities, both for flexibility and resistance and strength, as well as a longer duration than that of products such as very resistant synthetic fibers or steel .
That is why many researchers are working with this material to get a utility out of it beyond killing the insects that are trapped. Researchers from the prestigious MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) work with the webs of the golden silk spider, a species that is capable of catching even birds in its webs. For centuries these fabrics have been used by fishermen in the South Pacific, and now You are studying the chemical and physical properties of this product to give it medical applications such as the manufacture of prosthetic tendons and ligaments , manufacture surgical thread for operations or even to make parachutes.
Importance of spiders in agriculture
Spiders feed on insects or even small rodents such as mice or bats that get trapped in their webs, generally, each spider makes its webs and there devours its prey alone. In fact, their diet is one of the factors that make spiders important for growing and farming. As they consume many and very varied insects, this makes them very good at controlling pests that can damage our orchards or gardens.
In many ecosystems, spiders act as controllers of the insect population, eliminating the possible overpopulation of these animals. In addition, spiders can even eat specimens of the same species, making them populations that can be controlled among themselves.
