The spider spider has spread to some U.S. states over the past decade, and a new study suggests its high tolerance for urban environments may explain why.
In new researchIn a paper published February 13 in the journal Arthropoda, researchers found that these giant, invasive spiders are surprisingly resistant to vibrations that simulate busy traffic. Many animals tend to avoid busy roads and urban areas because increased vibrations can cause stress.
In more than 350 trials examining these spiders on 20 different roads, the researchers found that vibrations from busy roads had only a small negative effect on the spiders’ propensity to catch prey, i.e. They found that spiders in high-traffic areas were slightly less likely to attack their home locations. Prey.
However, these spiders did not lose weight or health. This suggests that spiders have found a way to compensate for slightly less prey in these urban areas.
“If you’re a spider, you rely on vibrations to do your work and catch bugs,” says Andy Davis, corresponding author of the study and a researcher in the University of Georgia’s Odum School of Ecology. “But these watering hole webs are everywhere in the fall, and the spiders seem to be able to make a living there, including right next to busy roads. Somehow, these spiders are resistant to urban areas. It looks like there is.”
The spider was first discovered in the United States about 10 years ago and has since successfully spread to many states, including Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Maryland, the university said. According to Live Science, which also reported sightings in Alabama, Oklahoma, and West Virginia.
Many scientists predict that this spider will continue to spread across the East Coast, a hypothesis supported by this study.
“It appears that spiders are not afraid to build their webs under traffic lights or in places you wouldn’t expect spiders to be found,” study co-author Alexa Schultz said in a statement. “I don’t know how happy people will be, but I think the spiders are here to stay.”
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