17 September 2025 Not so creepy crawly research

The eight-legged creature quietly plays a vital role in the health of our gardens. Nicola spoke to NZ Gardener about her research and the image problem spiders face. 

Spiders tend to be unwelcome visitors. We clean away their webs and evict them from their homes. About 15% of us are seriously afraid of them.

Nicola reckons it’s time for that to change because, with their voracious appetite for a wide array of flying and crawling creatures, spiders are helpful for pest control and an important part of the ecosystem in any garden. 

“Spiders have a big image problem,” says Nicola. “They’re generalist predators so they feed on lots of different things but they don’t feed on plants. Instead, they’ll eat the insects and invertebrates that are often the things damaging our gardens.”

As part of her PhD with Lincoln University and Plant & Food Research, supported by a Food Transitions 2050 scholarship, Nicola has been conducting experiments to see how much a spider can devour – and she has been surprised to learn what big appetites they have. 

Read the full article on Nicola Sullivan's research in the September issue of NZ Gardener.