On October 21st, Meghan Cassidy brought all the photography and natural history facts to get most of us to appreciate spiders in new ways. Even those who only grudgingly respect spiders for their ecological roles were probably a bit charmed. It could be that even those who shudder at the sight of a spider had a moment or two when they (secretly, to themselves) said, “well, that one’s sort of cute.”
You can access the recording of her presentation HERE.
Meghan has been studying these arachnids for fun for many years. She works in the field of data analytics but her second vocation is as a naturalist, photographer, and advocate for the eight-legged. Her photographs have been featured in many books and articles such as the field guide, Spiders of North America by Sarah Rose.
In this program, she started by reminding us of how spiders are different from insects and showed a chart of spider faces with all the different numbers and arrangements of eyes. Meghan also showed photos of various arachnids – the big group of invertebrates that includes spiders, scorpions, harvestmen, vinegaroons, and others.
Lots of natural history stories are included in the video, including how certain tiny spiders can hang out by an orbweaver’s web and try to steal food from that orbweaver. Spider silk gets used in different ways, more than just those fascinating concentric circles like nets strung between branches. One of them is a bowl-shaped web with a flat sheet of webbing beneath it, called “bowl-and-doily” spiders. Another, common at Sheri Capehart Nature Preserve, takes the form of a funnel that opens onto a large sheet web. The funnel or tube looks a little like a tornado. The spider sits hidden within the lower tube but can run out to grab an insect that gets stuck in the web.
All of this reminded me of a spider walk that Meghan led at the preserve in 2021. She took us around as night fell, finding various species of spiders and their webs. For at least a while, we were all fans of spiders.
Of course she covered the two medically significant spiders in the U.S., the brown recluse and the black widow. Both are not hard to find in North Texas, and Meghan made the case that neither one of them wants any trouble with us.
We invite you to watch (or re-watch) the recording of this presentation. Just click on THIS LINK and it will take you to the video.