Spiders Are On The Move For Love This Season

Spiders freak me out, and it seems like more spiders are out now than usual. But according to experts, that's not really the case. What spiders are doing is coming out of hiding and looking around for, companionship.  

OK, they are spiders. They want to mate. 

According to axios.com,
‘Spiders don't intentionally move between indoors and outdoors — and if they try, only about 5% make it, Rod Crawford, arachnid curator at the Burke Museum, tells Axios.
Our region's most visible spider, the giant house spider or Eratigena atrica, is on the move as sexual maturity compels the males to abandon the crawl spaces and basements they favor to wander aimlessly in search of a female's web.’ 

So, in some ways this is not that different from humans. 

Spiders have no intent to attack humans. This is strictly an instinct. There's no conscious thinking behind it.  

Some other spiders that you might see hanging out are what are known as cellar spiders. They hang from webs that are very similar to Black Widow webs. Another term for these cellar spiders is false black widows. You also have your average house spiders which are out roaming around looking for a love connection as well. 

When you're outdoors, you also might see the European Cross Orb Weaver. They like to create large spiral webs in gardens and across sidewalks. If you want one of these critters to stop making webs that cross your path outdoors, you have to move the spider, not the web. 

Washington has approximately 978 different species of spider and they all have some kind of venom, but only one species is actually dangerous to humans. The Western Black Widow which, by the way, is mostly found in Eastern Washington. (Hurray us.) 

Soon this mating season will be over, and then it'll be nice and quiet. Until millions of little baby spiders hatch. 

So bust out that old DVD of Arachnophobia, Pop some popcorn and kick back for a fun time. (not me)

Why you're seeing more spiders in Seattle right now - Axios Seattle
Identifying false widow spiders | Natural History Museum