Winter squash is an excellent source of vitamin A, vitamin C, alpha-carotene and beta-carotene. It is also a very good source of thiamin, vitamin B6, potassium, magnesium, and manganese, and a good source of iron.
Spiders are, for the most part, such generalist feeders that they kill many useful insects as well as many pest species, however because pest species are by their nature more numerous than beneficial species they are still effective. They are of great value to the environment.
Insecticides also have a negative effect on spider diversity in agricultural and pasture ecosystems. The researchers show in the study that organic farming is more beneficial to arachnid abundance than conventional agriculture, but that these effects depend on the complexity of the landscape.