According to researchers at Buglife we could be in for a bumper crop of Spiders and Daddy Long Legs. Apparently last year's wet autumn meant the larvae of daddy longlegs had plenty of decaying plant matter to eat and the lack of dramatic weather this summer would help spiders, which keep other bugs at bay.
This could be good news for birds though as according to Ian Dawson, of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB):
It's debatable whether some of our resident insect-eating birds, like the Wren, would be able to survive the winter without a plentiful supply of spiders in leaf litter and under shrubbery.
5 comments:
One thing's for sure... I've had a bumper crop of those huge house spiders this year... Three in one night for a few days running... They're the only ones that I won't put up with, all the other spiders are free to do as they wish.
*shudder*
Sounds like good news to me Pete!
Someone said to me yesterday that they had seen a lot more spiders in the house than usual and I said I hadn't, she then said she would have to get some conkers as they are supposed to deter spiders! I had never heard of that but I do have some conkers in the house and haven't seen any spiders lately.
I've found that there's a lack of spiders in my vicinity this year. A bit of a disappointment really.
Hmm, I think the conker thing only works if you have a good aim with your sling shot! I found when I lived in Kent the best protector from Daddy Longlegs was Hens, they love to eat the larvae from the grass. Now I'm reduced to running shrieking through the house each September, they have not sense of direction and they always seem to want to hug me!
Spiders are cool!
The insect eating birds deserve to have a feast this winter!
C
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