In a wooded wetland
area, Buck Ross who farms near Arthur cultivates an environment for
spiders.
He knows they are
worth more than their weight in gold, holding insect populations in
check.
A recent study cited
by the newspaper, USA Today, says spiders consume 400 tonnes of
insects per year – more than the global total of human meat
consumption.
Spiders protect
grasslands and forests by eating insects, says scientist Martin
Nyffeler of the University of Basel in Switzerland, who is the lead
author of the study.
He says their study
for the first time puts quantities on the global impact of spiders,
and he says they have a significant impact on insects, including
pests.
There are about
45,000 species of spiders.
