Wendy Thienes
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The Shaunavon Standard
A late August camping vacation, on one of the chilliest weekends of the season, resulted in a surprising and welcomed photo opportunity in Douglas Provincial Park situated on Lake Diefenbaker near Elbow, Saskatchewan.
Overnight temperatures dipped to plus five degrees and, upon waking, a thick fog had descended upon the park, creating an eerie atmosphere. Upon exiting the camping trailer in the morning, we were greeted by stringy remnants of webs on our awning, vehicles and in the trees.
There were also dozens, if not hundreds, of perfectly spun webs, carefully placed in trees, on road signs and barbecues; anywhere that two solid surfaces might be joined by the lethal construction of an ethereal spider web. The fog continued to hang thick in the air while I snapped a few pics of the handiwork of one of nature’s most feared and loathsome creatures, the spider. Why had I never noticed the plethora of silky creations to such a degree before?
I reached out to the Prager Lab at the University of Saskatchewan, which focuses on entomology or the study of insects, to inquire about the quantity and excellent visibility of the webs on that morning. It seems there may be a few factors.
Jeremy Irvine, PhD student in the Lab says, “Generally speaking, as temperatures decrease, adult spiders try to gather as many nutrients as possible to lay their eggs in egg cocoons. These cocoons contain their offspring and serve as a way for them to overwinter. Once the first frost arrives, the adult orb weavers will die off. In spring, the offspring will emerge, and the immature orb weavers will begin to develop into adults.” Indeed, as I gazed in wonder and awe at the finest handiwork of these talented creatures, I saw a fly land on one of the creations, causing the web to implode and disappear before my eyes. That fly was ‘the one who got away.’ But, given the quantity of webs that I discovered, I am confident many of the spiders did not go hungry.
Irvine says, “The webs that you are looking at are typical of spiders in the family Araneidae, or orb-weaving spiders. These are the typical spiral spider webs that most people associate with Halloween or a simple spider web and usually trap flying insects.
The type of web spider it makes is usually indicative of what family the spider belongs to. For example, spiders of the family Theridiidae (cobweb weavers) are typically the spiders that create cobwebs, which form the haphazard-looking web commonly found in attics or basements.
Other spiderweb shapes include funnelshaped, which is typically found in spiders from the family Agelenidae (funnelweb weavers), where in most cases the webs resemble funnels and are not sticky. Instead, these funnelshaped webs form a sort of habitat for the spider to store food and wait for prey.”
Perfectly spun webs appeared throughout the trees and bushes at Douglas Provincial Park in the early morning hours in late August.
I inquired if the particularly foggy conditions played a role in the abundant appearance of webs that morning.
Irvine says, “You are exactly right. The condensation from fog or water from rain collects on the thin silk fibres of the spider web, and then the reflection of the light off the water makes it much more visible to our eyes.”
He adds, “Climate change and weather patterns strongly influence insects and their behaviour. Because insects are ectotherms, temperature and moisture drive how fast they develop, how many generations they produce, when they’re active, and even where they can live. Prolonged drought and heat can accelerate development to a certain extent, but they also increase stress and mortality during extreme conditions, shift ranges, and often create timing mismatches between pests, their natural enemies, and pollinators.”
Further information is available in the article: Climate Change Impact on Agricultural Entomology (Bulletin of the Entomological Society of Canada, 2025, authors Jeremy Irvine, Tyler Hartl, and Sean Prager)
Irvine says, “Broadly speaking, there are approximately twenty different spider families in Saskatchewan, which can be divided into web-building spiders and hunting spiders. As you can guess, hunting spiders actively stalk/chase/pounce on their prey rather than waiting for an insect to fly into their web. Many web-building spiders employ a sit-and-wait approach to foraging for their food.”
This revealing experience opened my eyes to a whole new world; a world in which the tiniest of eight-legged arachnids rules in the dark, spinning and weaving their elaborate traps. As they say, ‘there is no rest for the wicked.’ It was a privilege to swap out the world wide web for a world of wild webs for this final summer getaway.
