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Article: Spiders are special, says top scientist.(News)
- Article from:
- Pretoria News (South Africa)
- Article date:
- September 6, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Independent News & Media PLC. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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BYLINE: Sholain Govender
Next time you think of squashing that scary spider with your shoe, think twice. Spiders are helpful. This is according to South African National Survey of Arachnida (Sansa) manager Professor Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman, who has been working with the creepy creatures for the past 40 years.
Spiders, scorpions, mites and ticks form part of the arachnida family.
But spiders are the most important because they eat insects that can destroy farming crops.
"Spiders are farmers' best friends," said Dippenaar-Schoeman, who works at the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) plant protection centre, and also serves as an ...