It’s almost Halloween, and some creepy things seem to be growing larger, and scarier in 2024.

Due to warmer winters, and climate change, house spiders have had more insects to eat, and thus increased in size. Before laying their eggs in the fall, female spiders look bigger, and they are hungrier.

CTV News in Montreal says McGill entomologist Chris Buddle who has found “that mature orb-weaver spiders are big and very noticeable this year.”

While in P.E.I., (Prince Edward Island), the CBC asked retired biologist Rosemary Curley about bug populations and recent warmer summer weather. They were told it was a good year for spiders, because “they have to have food, and the more insects there are, the better the spiders will like it.”

While in Ontario, Alice Sinia from Orkin, explained that while it was the opposite last year, in the winter when it is “very cold and you have a lot of snow, it tends to make it more difficult for pests to survive. When spring arrives, you’re going to have a smaller population to start the next generation of pests,” the Insauga online news magazine reports.

Invasive species

South of the border, a new invasive spider from East Asia called the joro spider has been reported. The large yellow and blue-black spider is thought to have arrived around 2010 on maritime ships landing in the Georgia state area.

In Canada, this spider species might also survive, as the weather in areas around the Great Lakes is comparable to some parts of East Asia.

Although female joro spiders are not poisonous, when compared to many spiders in Canada, they are disturbingly large (to some people) at about an inch (2.5 cm). They are three inches (7.5 cm) with their legs extended.

While still small babies or adolescents, joros exhibit a behavior called ‘ballooning’. While they are less than 1 mg in weight these spiders have been seen floating on gold web strands in the wind.

Joro spiders have only tiny fangs, and do not have a serious bite. Being very scared of humans, they much prefer to run away.

Sources

 Spiders, spiders everywhere? Islanders are noticing more, and bigger, arachnids: ‘They’re a very successful species,’ says P.E.I. biologist Rosemary Curley. CBC News. (2024, October 4). https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-spider-population-healthy-1.7342910

More and bigger spiders noticeable in Montreal this fall. CTV News Montreal. (2024, October. 12). https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/more-and-bigger-spiders-noticeable-in-montreal-this-fall-1.7072557

Invasive, parachuting Joro spiders spreading in the U.S. — is Canada next? The Associated Press: Global News. (2024, June 14). https://globalnews.ca/news/10562484/joro-spiders-canada-us/

More bugs than usual expected in yards and houses in Ontario this summer. Insauga. (2024, April 19). https://www.insauga.com/more-bugs-than-usual-expected-in-yards-and-houses-in-ontario-this-summer/

Ballooning (spider). Wikipedia. (2024, April 7). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballooning_(spider)

Trichonephila clavate: Joro spider. Wikipedia. (2024, October 12). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichonephila_clavata