How do you overcome a fear of spiders? Spend an evening with them, of course

On Saturday evening, Dustin Wilgers will lead a field trip that could be straight from the nightmares of many Americans: wandering through a spider-infested landscape in the dark.

But the assistant biology professor at McPherson College thinks those who attend his “Gems of the prairie, a night with spiders” will leave with a great appreciation of arachnids. The free program begins at 8 p.m. at the office at Cheney State Park.

Wilgers understands why some would hesitate.

During his boyhood days in Wichita, Wilgers admits, he had some arachnophobia.

While pursuing a doctorate in biology, he began working with wolf spiders.

“Once I saw their unique behaviors and just how specialized and interesting they can be, I started to get passionate about them,” he said.

He learned his home state of Kansas is home to about 500 species of spiders. Wolf spiders, some of his favorites, have a complete system of communication that can include dances, sounds and special vibrations sent through the ground. While perfectly camouflaged by day, wolf spiders have eyes that twinkle like stars if hit with a flashlight beam after dark.

Sharing that passion with those interested in spiders, as well as those trying to overcome fears, is the reason he’s held similar field trips the past several years.

The spider program is free. A standard vehicle permit is needed to enter the state park. Daily permits can be purchased for $5 at the park entrance. No pre-registration is required.

Wilgers’ spider programs last year drew as many as 150 people to Wichita’s Great Plains Nature Center. There’s no minimum or maximum age.

“We normally get quite a few families, often with small kids, which is nice,” said Wilgers. “We also get some adults, up into their 60s or 70s, who come because they’re either curious or they really want to learn more about spiders.”

Kansas, he said, is great place to learn because there’s no shortage of spiders due to the state’s variety of habitats that include natural grasslands, wetlands, riparian areas and mature forest.

The prairie grassland habitat of Cheney State Park is perfect for wolf spiders. Unlike most spiders, wolf spiders don’t construct webs. They roam on or near the prairie floor looking for insects.

On a good evening, Wilgers and two or three students can normally collect 100 to 200 wolf spiders of one particular species in just a few hours. A flashlight will work for the night search, but Wilgers recommends serious spider hunters wear a headlamp so both hands are free. He has a small number he can loan to participants.

Throughout the evening, Wilgers will be teaching the importance of spider conservation and why the Kansas populations need to be protected.

“Spiders are some of the top predators we have on insects, like mosquitoes,” said Wilgers. “If we didn’t have spiders, we’d be in even more problems with too many insects.”

People will be allowed to handle some of Wilgers’ tarantulas that are native to Central and South America. He’ll also talk about Texas brown tarantulas, the saucer-sized species native to much of Kansas. Wilgers said the danger such spiders pose to humans has been greatly exaggerated. He rated the bite of a tarantula to “being about like a bee sting.” But most tarantulas are pretty docile, he said, as long as people don’t get them too excited.

Wilgers also will spend time educating guests on brown recluse spiders. The species is probably the most dangerous spider in Kansas – and one of the most common. Wilgers said most houses in Kansas are home to brown recluses. He talked of one house in Missouri that held about 5,000. Nobody living in that house had ever been bitten by one of the brown recluses.

He’ll offer instruction on how to keep that from happening.

“Like their name says, they’re reclusive. Most of the time they want to find some kind of cover and hide down along the floor,” he said. “They like dark places, and that can be a pile of clothes. People get bit when they leave clothes laying around and a brown recluse has taken up shop in a shirt, pair of pants or socks and they put it on.

“I make sure to tell the kids that one of the best ways to not get bitten by a venomous spider is to keep their clothes picked up off the floor,” said Wilgers. “I joke that their parents can always thank me later.”

This story was originally published July 5, 2017 at 7:57 PM with the headline "How do you overcome a fear of spiders? Spend an evening with them, of course."