Spiders, their webs and myths

By Tom Gillespie

ARACHNOPHOBIA is the fear of spiders, something, thankfully, I don’t suffer from. But for many it is a really scary phobia, especially with the proliferation of house spiders.

On frosty or foggy mornings, multitudes of spider webs can be seen in the hedgerows.

As can be seen in the attached photograph, there must be up to 20 webs in this small whin bush at Lough Lannagh, Castlebar.

In normal conditions you won’t see the webs but the moisture from the fog really highlights them.

A spider web is a device created by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets, generally meant to catch its prey.

Their spinneret glands are located at the tip of their abdomen. Each gland produces a thread for a special purpose - for example a trailed safety line, sticky silk for trapping prey, or fine silk for wrapping it.

Spiders use different gland types to produce different silks, and some spiders are capable of producing up to eight different silks during their lifetime.

Most spiders have three pairs of spinnerets, each having its own function - there are also spiders with just one pair and others with as many as four pairs.

Spider webs have existed for at least 100 million years. Insects can get trapped in spider webs, providing nutrition to the spider. However, not all spiders build webs to catch prey, and some do not build webs at all.

Webs allow a spider to catch prey without having to expend energy by running it down. Thus it is an efficient method of gathering food.

However, constructing the web is in itself an energetically costly process because of the large amount of protein required, in the form of silk.

In addition, after a time the silk will lose its stickiness and becomes inefficient at capturing prey.

It is common for spiders to eat their own web daily to recoup some of the energy used in spinning.

The tensile strength of spider silk is greater than the same weight of steel and has much greater elasticity. Its microstructure is under investigation for potential applications in industry, including bullet-proof vests and artificial tendons.

I recall when I was in America I purchased spools of fishing line in New York and some years later in Orlando called spider wire and it was virtually impossible to break.

In old wives tales a spider’s web was cited as a cure to stop bleeding in various cultures, including Ireland, for thousands of years. We now know that spiderwebs are high in vitamin K, which helps to clot blood, so they become a ‘natural’ bandaid.

Other pisrogues read: Bind a cut finger in cobwebs, and it will get well and stop bleeding. Reportedly, a cobweb acts as a disinfectant; a fresh cobweb will staunch the flow of blood; if a person had a cut or abrasion, someone would rush under the house and procure some cobwebs which would be applied to the wound to stop the flow of blood, and cobwebs stop nose bleeds.

Another bizarre one: You can also apply soot and cobwebs, suet and cobwebs, blackened cobwebs, cobwebs and/or cotton lint for bleeding or mash up mushrooms to apply to the cut, or apply snuff or pills made of cobwebs that were believed to stop haemorrhages.

In times gone by, cobwebs and brown sugar were pressed on wounds to stop bleeding.

Don't have cobwebs on hand? Sugar alone is said to be a good substitute. It causes the blood to coagulate more quickly.

Throughout history, spiders have been depicted in popular culture, mythology and in symbolism. From Greek mythology to African folklore, the spider has been used to represent a variety of things, and endures into the present day with characters such as Shelob from The Lord of the Rings and Spider-Man from the comic series.

The spider has symbolised patience and persistence due to its hunting technique of setting webs and waiting for its prey to become ensnared. Numerous cultures attribute the spider's ability to spin webs with the origin of spinning, textile weaving, basketry, knot work and net making.

Spiders are associated with creating myths because they seem to weave their own artistic worlds.

Here are some home remedies for getting rid of cobwebs in the home.

It's important to keep your home free of cobwebs, and not only because they attract allergens like pollen, dust and dirt, and can contain unhealthy matter, such as dead insects.

Washing your walls and ceiling with warm, soapy water both removes cobwebs and prevents them from forming. Wash areas where they tend to form once a month, or whenever a cobweb appears.

Keep spiders from getting into your house to prevent cobwebs. Seal cracks in your floors, ceilings, window sills and other woodwork with caulking. Keep your house free of trash and clutter. Eliminate other insects, like cockroaches, in your home, since they are a food supply that attracts spiders.

Dust areas where you've seen spiders and cobwebs with lemon furniture polish.

This will clean away the cobwebs, and the lemon oil in the polish acts as a spider repellent.