Would you like some news that will no doubt fester in the back of your mind for the remainder OF YOUR LIFE? Of course you do.
Good news for spider lovers (all three of you) living in a built-up, densely populated area, your 8-legged friends are getting bigger.
A recent study has proven that the growth of cities is directly affecting certain types of spider, not in the way the rest of us would hope, as some species are getting bigger and reproducing much faster thanks to city life.
Researchers examined 222 spiders collected between April and June 2012 and discovered that rather than thriving in areas with lots of vegetation, golden orb weaver spiders living in urban areas of Sydney, Australia, were larger and had more babies. Great.
According to the new study, published in the PLOS One journal, discovered that: “Habitat modifications significantly alter species distributions and can result in increased abundance of select species which are able to exploit novel ecosystems.
“Spider size was negatively associated with vegetation cover at a landscape level, and positively associated with hard surfaces and anthropogenic disturbance on a local and microhabitat scale.
“The larger size and increased reproductive capacity of the spider in urban areas show that some species benefit from the habitat changes associated with urbanisation”.
Don’t panic, it is only some huge friendly spiders, said no one. Ever.
*Moves to the countryside*
Hat-tip: Sky News.
