Spiders Native to East Tennessee By Caroline Pope

Spiders Native to East Tennessee By: Caroline Pope

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Misunderstood Though many people fear spiders, there is really nothing about most species to make them scary. Spiders are more scared of you than you are of them.

Habitat 39 species of spiders live in Tennessee, such as common house spiders or garden spiders. Only two of these are potentially harmful to humans; the rest are harmless. Most of these spiders are found only in nature, but a few often find their way into human habitations such as barns or homes.

Diet Spiders mainly eat small insects such as flies. This actually helps humans because spiders eat many of the pests that destroy crops. Larger spider species can occasionally eat lizards, frogs, and birds, but nothing larger than that.

Webs Different species of spiders make different types of webs. Webs can be different sizes or shapes. Types of webs include: spiral orbs, tangles or cobwebs, funnel webs, tubular webs, and sheet webs.

Venomous Spiders Only two species of poisonous spiders live in East Tennessee. They are the black widow and the brown recluse.

Black Widow The black widow is extremely recognizable because of the red hourglass on their backs. Only the females are poisonous. Bites are uncommon because of their preferred habitat closed in and dark places.

Brown Recluse This species is extremely shy and will most likely not bite unless provoked. It is a medium brown color. They like dry and sheltered areas. They hibernate in the winter.

Charlotte from Charlotte’s Web One example of a spider that is nice is Charlotte. She is a common orb-weaver spider, also known as a barn spider because of their habit of living in human structures. They are yellow and brown in color. These spiders are reluctant to bite, and when they do, though they are venomous, the bites are not very serious injuries to humans. This species is mainly found in the northeastern portion of the country.