One of the quintessential images of Halloween just might be spiders: huge black, crouching, fanged spiders, ready to jump out from a shadowy webbed corner and bite! But as gardeners, should we view ...

These spiders are commonly confused with golden orb spiders, but garden spiders are smaller and lack the golden sheen on their webs. You may also hear these arachnids referred to as the zipper spider ...

When I see a garden spider, l recall a fellow graduate student who I came to know while doing owl research in Minnesota. On occasion, I would drop by her office which she shared with her husband, a ...

If Miss Muffet in the children’s nursery rhyme had known more about garden spiders, she might not have been so frightened. Spiders are beneficial garden inhabitants that are much more interested in ...

For the majority of the year, native spiders take up residence in our homes and gardens, but tend to stay out of sight (and, cucially, mind). It's only in autumn, when the weather takes a turn, that ...

It’s the end of October, and most gardeners I know are scrambling to get gardens put to bed before the snow flies. Insects are doing the same thing, seeking out warm, protected places to live through ...

There are certain topics that we field questions on quite regularly at the Extension office each growing season. Unusually large insects fit this category, they are something that stop a lot of ...

Spiders can be a huge help so don’t squish until you learn about the role they play. Vilified on the movie screen and perpetuated as a creature of mischief as many a Halloween witches’ sidekick, the ...

All habitats depend on predators to keep things in balance. Your garden is a habitat full of wildlife, and while predators like the praying mantis and the ladybug tend to be celebrated, there’s ...

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Spiders get a bad rap. Many people go to great lengths to avoid or get rid of them. Is it their otherworldly appearance? A concern about being bitten by a ...