Although the word “spider” may elicit a “yuck” or an “ew” from many readers, the true nature of these oft-feared critters is not as icky as one might suppose. Arachnids provide essential services for humans and play key roles in balancing our ecosystems by keeping herbivorous insects in check.

“Without spiders we would probably succumb to some nasty insect-borne disease while waiting to starve to death,” said Kefyn Catley, whohas studied the evolutionary biology of spiders on four continents and spent years teaching and conducting research as a professor of biology at Western Carolina University . Some of his work has been done in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, whose boundary is within a 45-minute drive of WCU. Researchers have thus far recorded 553 species of spiders in the par

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