Mayo's veritable army of spiders is a source of wonder

COUNTRYFILE

THIS is spider time.

Perhaps you have seen one of these fine (and rare!) autumn morning sunrises, when the whole world appears to be cloaked in cobwebs?

If so, you might wonder where all those spiders have come from.

After all, we don’t see huge numbers of them each time we walk through the countryside. And yet just look! There must be enough silk to make a coat for every man, woman and child in the land.

With more than 580 resident species, Ireland is a world of wonder for arachnophiles. While the United Kingdom boasts more than 1,000 species and Italy is at the top of the web with some 1,700 different arachnids, we still have more than enough to keep us busy.

We have giant house spiders up to three inches across, wolf spiders that chase down their prey, raft spiders that run over the surface of water, and water spiders that live below it.

We also have daddy-longlegs spiders that lasso their prey, photophobic cave spiders that glisten brown and black as they scurry away from any source of light, and the dreaded false widow with its poisonous bite.

Add zebra spiders, jumping spiders, crab spiders, orb weavers and labyrinth spiders, and we’re just beginning to scratch the surface.

But why do we see so many of them at this time of year? Through the summer months, the latest generation of spiderlings have been hard at work, eating their way through vast numbers of insects, many of which would soon reach plague status were it not for these predators.

They waxed fat while the weather was warm, but now things are cooling down they find themselves short on food.

Webs are woven to great extent, and when these are covered in dew, such as happens through the autumn months, they become highly visible, especially in morning sunlight.

Some spiders will begin to seek more comfortable quarters for themselves, which is why we might now get an influx of them into the house.

Have you seen those hairy house spiders that always end up in the bathtub?

A common misconception is that they somehow came up through the plughole. But no, they came in through an open window and slipped into the bath while exploring their new home.

There is no way out for them, except that they are rescued and set free, probably back into the garden.

While these house spiders possess jaws strong enough to puncture human skin, it is rare to have the slight wound they inflict cause any kind of problem.

That is certainly not the case with the false widow. This creature would nearly take your arm off – at least, that is the kind of press they are given.

The truth is that so widespread is the false widow, a lot of us have been bitten and never even realized it. Someone does occasionally develop some kind of reaction, and when that happens the whole world is informed of the imminent risk of one limb or another.

With so many spider types present in the country it is nearly impossible to describe the false widow, which is quite variable in appearance anyway.

Suffice it to say that if the spider you are looking at is shiny brown or black, with lighter markings on its abdomen and back, you might want to evict it from the house.

If you do decide on that course of action, use a jar – not to squash it, but to remove it gently to another location.

For those who react to getting bitten, it might be necessary to seek medical advice. As well as administering a dose of powerful venom, false widow spiders harbour harmful bacteria capable of causing a nasty infection.

For the most part, though, our veritable army of arachnids are beneficial and a source of wonder.

Enjoy them.