Posted on 08/27/2004 2:30:06 PM PDT by swilhelm73
CHICAGO - Midwestern spiders always get big as they prepare to lay eggs, but this year they're even fatter thanks to a cool, wet summer that sustained their favorite snack — insects.
"Right now they're eating like kings," said Field Museum entomologist Petra Sierwald. "They're having a very good time."
People throughout the Midwest are noticing the corpulent arachnids everywhere from bushes to the windows of high-rise buildings.
Randall Deutsch said lately he's noticed armies of spiders clinging to the outside of office windows where he works as an architect.
"It's one of the strangest things to see spiders on upper floors," said Deutsch, 43, of Winnetka. "Maybe they're trying to escape the city and heat like everyone else."
Former high-rise window washer Russell Hendericks said he's seen workers drop their tools when spiders crawl on their hands.
"Spiders don't bother me, but my partner is petrified," said Hendericks, who took over as owner of H & M Window Cleaning and Building Maintenance in Chicago this month. "He goes home and takes a bath and has them in his hair."
Donald Webb, an entomologist with the Illinois Natural History Survey, said spiders are often plentiful and plump this time of year.
"There's usually more spiders this time of year because there are more insects out," Webb said. "There's just more food out there for them."
But just how many are there, and how fat are they? Entomologists say it's hard to pinpoint exact numbers.
The rule of thumb is that no one anywhere is ever more than 3 feet away from a spider, Sierwald said. There are also 899 known spider species in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana. People just don't notice the creepy crawlers as much until they fatten up near the end of summer.
Each fall, female spiders can double in size as they prepare to lay eggs. Some spiders, such as female argiopes, which are common to Illinois, can grow as long as 2 inches. Argiopes spin large, orb-like webs and can be found in bushes, prairies and well-kept yards.
Other spiders, such as jumping spiders, range in size from tiny to half an inch long and often sneak into people's houses.
Most spiders in the Midwest will lay their eggs from now through October and then hibernate or die, Sierwald said.
For spider haters, the bad news is that before they die, spiders will lay anywhere from 50 to 1,000 eggs a piece.
Out of those eggs, however, only one or two spiders will survive to maturity — a sad fact for spider lovers such as Boyce Tankersley, 48.
Tankersley, an avid gardener from Grayslake who works at the Chicago Botanic Garden, said spiders are a great way to control the insects in his quarter-acre garden.
"My grapevines have got some nice spiders that live on them every year," Tankersley said. "I wish I had more spiders on my raspberries."
Others, however, will not be as heartbroken to see the sizable spiders go.
"They give me the heebie-jeebies," said Colleen Murphy, 43, of Arlington Heights as she relaxed near a bench in Chicago's Millennium Park. "My brothers used to throw them at me when I was little."
I've got a Spyder out back that Nader would respect.
I live in the North East. I hate spiders, and there's a big dead on on my deck. It's so big, I think I may have to bury it.
Bigger spiders = global warming = Bush's fault. This game is easy!
And they're being rounded up and sent against our soldiers!
Allah sending giant spiders to combat U.S.? (They are really losing it over there)
WHY he brought it over to show me is beyond my comprehension, since I'm known to utter unintelligible groans and shrieks at normal sized spiders.
The Toads are huge this year too, although not as plentiful as years past. I think they're feeding on the giant-spider buffet and growing large right along with them.
This would be why he brought it over.
As yes - Touche'!
The mud daubers are liking it, too.
I'm afraid to ask you what eats the toads?
Snakes! but it would take a really big one to eat the 5 inch toad that has taken up residence in my garage... The cats won't go near it...
If you are a girl who shrieks over spiders and other crawly things...you don't have to wonder why He brought it over to you....the same reason cats and dogs prefer "squeeeeky" toys
hehehehehehe
And yes we do have some really big...and plentiful numbers of those critters this year...Ive killed some big ones lately....
They also get into your bed and bite....you will itch like crazy in the am...my wife's bites get infected (the one's the spiders give her...not the one's she gives me.... you twits)
I have a friend who was bitten by a brown recluse, and almost lost his leg due to gangrene. However, he went to to hospital just in time (he didn't even know he was bitten by one until the area started to putrify).
bump for coolest summer since I've lived in KC
I've had a pack of coyotes living nearby for over 5 years.. They do very well..I see them occasionally...mainly ive on deer..we're overrun, becuase there is no hunting..so between roadkill and normal disease/ageing..there's always a meal around..and of course, we no longer have any stray cats in the neighborhood..
We have a bumper crop of toads here at Lake of the Ozarks. This place is always buggy and muggy...
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