Home Gardening

Move, don't kill, that Golden Silk Orbweaver
Mississippi Gardens Newspaper and Web Column - September 15, 2003

Some people are terrified of spiders and others are not bothered by them. While I don't consider myself "scared" of spiders, I sure don't want them, or their web, on me.

My first encounter with spiders occurred when I was about 6 or 7 years old. I remember watching one of my older brothers (not saying which one) take a spider from its web and drop it into another spider's web just to watch them fight. Interesting, but gruesome. Then there were a number of times I've had the unpleasant experience of riding my bike through a spider's web stretched across a path in the woods. More recently, though, I nearly fell off my mower while dodging one of the largest, fiercest looking spiders on the Gulf Coast!

It seems like it's just the past few years that the Golden Silk Orbweaver (Nephila clavipes) has increased in number and caught the attention of many people. They're usually not noticed early on in their lifecycle, but by the time midsummer rolls around they are huge. Their large, colorful bodies of black, yellow and gray are commonly found hanging upside down in their webs that may span more than 2 feet in diameter! Although they are typically found in open areas among tall grasses and weeds, they seem to have a fondness for our homes and outbuildings. Overnight they can make an ordinary home look like the Munsters have moved in!

It's not necessary to kill the spiders. Although I understand that's what most people want to do. These spiders don't move very fast and won't jump on you and their bite is not poisonous. So, take a stick about 6 feet long (or longer if preferred) and reach up into the edge of the web. Start winding the web around the stick and the spider will come with it. The web is really tough, amazingly so. I've heard that if we could duplicate the web chemistry we would have a product tougher and more flexible than steel! Nevertheless, once the spider is on the stick, take it to a more suitable location where it will make a new web and start catching pesky insects again.

There are many interesting details about this particular wonder of nature. For instance, the Golden Silk Orbweaver female is said to eat her web each day and spin a new one in the same place. The middle of the web contains a special non-sticky zigzag pattern that is easy for birds to see so they don't crash headlong into it. If the Golden Silk Orbweaver makes a home on your front porch, consider moving this fascinating and beautiful creature to a more suitable site. Happy Gardening!

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These archived columns were written by Kerry Johnson, a hobby gardener, former weekly newspaper columnist and an Area Extension Horticulture Agent for 11 coastal counties in Mississippi.