The world's original web masters make wonderful mothers, but deadly mates.
Spiders manage their own population and prey on insects that destroy vegetation. They offer natural pest control, provided they are protected from predators.
The 30th annual American Arachnological Society conference comes to Baltimore this week, giving more than 130 scientists from around the world an opportunity to share spider research, behavior and lore.
Nancy A. Kreiter, a Bel Air resident, has organized the conference on the campus of the College of Notre Dame of Maryland, where she is an associate professor of biology.
"If you care about an ecosystem that works, you have to care about all its parts, especially spiders," Kreiter said. "If you remove spiders, other insect populations will become overgrown and there will be plant damage."
Spiders are almost exclusively carnivores, predators that prey on plant-eating insects and mosquito larvae, Kreiter said.
"They do us a huge service considering what they are eating," she said. "If they are in your home, they are not in your flour or your clothes. They are eating your household pests."
Kreiter recalled her childish fear of spiders and her initial reluctance to take up arachnology at University of Maryland, Baltimore County where she earned a doctorate in biological sciences. After a year working as a neurobiologist, she decided she wanted a job that included outdoor research and returned to spiders.
"I actually was afraid of spiders when I was a little girl," she said. "Now I can look at them right in their eight eyes and study their behavior."
She has researched that behavior for the past 14 years, doing much of the research in the summer, when the creatures are most active. An expert in the field, she has handled hundreds of spiders with fangs and venom, but has never been bitten.
"Dr. Kreiter has such enthusiasm for her subject that everybody gets excited," said Virginia Weeks, a student research assistant. "They don't care that it's spiders because she makes it so interesting."
Kreiter fields calls from arachnophobes, helps neighbors identify critters and teaches children respect for spiders.
"I am `Spiderwoman' to most kids," said Kreiter, who is married and the mother of two.
During the four-day conference, which opened yesterday, scientists will discuss everything from spider mating choices and maternal behavior to scorpion locomotion and web building.
