Orb-spinning Garden Spiders

Question from Carol:

I’m trying to find a source for live orb-spinners for my organic garden. My neighbors all spray poisons and pesticides but my whole yard is poison/spray-free. Is there a way to visit someone who can let me capture a spider or two to bring home with me? My area is pretty overgrown and these spiders should love it here if I can get them established.

Answer from Pat:

I share your enthusiasm for orb-weaver spiders and have many in my garden. I also deplore the fact that your neighbors use insecticides. One would think that the prevalence of cancer in our society, from children to adults, would be enough to wake up the ignorant to the need for a pesticide-free home environment.

You do not say where you live, but I live in Southern California and here I usually begin to notice orb weavers in early fall, when they begin growing in size. Some are most beautifully colorful. My guess is that if you provide a good habitat for them, as you evidently have done, they will eventually arrive in your garden of their own accord. I know of no source for purchasing them and don’t think there is one. However, I have a suggestion.

If I were you I would attend meetings of local plant societies, such as the Horticultural Society, The Organic Gardening Club, and your local village or town’s garden club. There might even be a Branch of the Entomological Society of America in your town. Inevitably there will be organic gardeners amongst these groups and people who are as enthused about spiders as you are. I would ask the president of the club to announce or allow you to announce that you are in search of orb weaver spiders to release in your garden. Someone is bound to be kind enough to allow you to search for them in his or her garden and allow you to go there prepared with several small butterfly nets for catching them.

Insect catching kits can be purchase at toy stores, but catching spiders is not easy. Dropping a wet Kleenex over a spider and then picking it up quickly and gently and depositing it into a jar or box is one way to go. One must be very gentle in order not to damage the spider’s legs. A better way would be to take several egg sacks and deposit these into your garden but the eggs do not hatch until spring. The female attaches her egg sacks on the edge of her web. In my climate zone they are visible in October. An additional place to find these spiders is in botanic gardens and on hikes in wild areas. I have often seen them on hiking trails near my home. Early morning when dew is on the web is a good time to hunt for them.