Posted on 12/27/2023 1:26:38 PM PST by algore
Some spiders will die when cold weather hits, but scientists warn an invasive species from Asia may survive and continue to invade the US.
Scientists at the University of Georgia froze more than two dozen of the eight-inch-long Jorō spiders spotted on the East Coast to see if the black and yellow creatures could survive the harsh winters.
The experiment showed nearly 75 percent of the spiders were unaffected, with the rest showing some injuries.
The Jorō spider's golden web took over yards all over northern Georgia in 2021, unnerving some residents, and was soon spotted in South Carolina and other states.
But biologists and entomologists now expect the creature to expand its territory as far north as Canada and west as Washington state.
'The native range in Asia includes much of western China and the entire Korean peninsula, so the spiders are clearly well adapted to fairly cold climates,' one researcher told DailyMail.com.
University of Georgia scientists Andrew Davis and Benjamin Frick tested 27 Jorō spiders against 20 of its North American rival in the food web: the golden silk spider.
Of the 27 Jorō spiders, nearly three-quarters (74.1 percent) got through this freezing trial completely unscathed, with the remaining seven surviving, albeit with icy injuries
'Spiders were held in 50 mL falcon tubes and placed in a freezer, which we manipulated to undergo a gradual decline from above-freezing to below-freezing.'
However, only 10 of the 20 golden silk spiders managed to survive.
Four died outright, and another six faced similar partial injuries, including 'loss of leg function, abdominal ruptures (from ice crystals) and loss of orientation,' researchers found.
One explanation for the difference, the researchers said, might be that the golden silk spider (Trichonephila clavipes) first came to the southern US via the tropics.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Hah LOL. I hope you write many things. That was a real story!
Thank you for the anecdote. I have one that will chill you to your bones.
Probably about the same timeline as yours, a friend’s dad had promised to take a few of us for a birthday overnight camp out. (He prayed for rain, it seems, to no avail). All was going well with the expected pre-teen jocularity. As the night and the campfire dwindled, and we dropped off to sleep one by one, a strange thing happened. Suddenly the ground became carpeted with daddy long legs.
Millions of them.
They were marching full speed into the fire! I am not kidding when I say millions, either. They covered everything and everyone, not slowing their pace for anything. The call was relentless. I don’t know why it suddenly happened. I didn’t know there were so many of them in the world. They would get close to the fire and their legs would burn off leaving their little round bodies. This went on for a couple of minutes, but it seemed much longer. It stopped as suddenly as it began. It has to have been the most bizarre visual of my entire childhood. We weren’t freaked out, but stared in amazement at what was unfolding around us.
LOL, but not sure if that’s a murder hornet or a suicide inducing hornet.
Look like that same ones I saw all over Japan when I was there. They make some good sized webs...
Wolfspiders and now these things too? SHeesh.
I thought the palmetto bug was your state bird.
You have NO IDEA how Satisfying each zap is!
That is one of the most bizarre and creepy things I have heard!!! Egad-it is almost like there should have been some creepy music playing in the background!
I am not afraid of Daddy Longlegs any more, but having that many of the around would definitely have bugged me out!
My brother, even 60 years later, still talks about the “spider dance” I did...
I like writing things like that, because EVERYONE seems to relate to the stories about spiders! Glad you liked it-
Heh, funny. My two cats always alert us when there is a flying bug in the house-I wish they would just eat them but perhaps they don’t like the crunch...
We see them both fixated on some invisible region, and we turn the light on to do our job.
I admit-rather than squashing the damn things and having to clean up the goo, I have a small DeWalt vacuum the sucks them right in. Every six months when I open it to empty it, I have a feeling I am going to see a bunch of them making a break for the open air!
But they don’t-they are all dead, even the spiders!
True, the palmetto bug is a very important part of our culture, the mosquito is winner as state bug. OTOH I can’t believe I am making fun of our state. I love it here.
Hello, rlmorel!
Early last year, something you wrote here on FR—I don’t recall it specifically, but that’s immaterial—caused me to add you to the list of people for whose salvation I pray daily. Since then, I have indeed prayed for you, and I intend to continue.
So, you can imagine my interest in reading of your arachnid encounters. Since then, I have added to my daily prayer for you a release from the intense reactions you have in such encounters.
Meanwhile, the Holy Spirit has been suggesting that I inform you.
Very best wishes,
Dan
Nice to hear from you, FRiend!
Heh, my “arachnid encounters” are less a source of terror for me today, as much as they are a source of humor! (though I DO eyeball my sheets with a wary eye every time I pull back my covers now!
And believe me, I do appreciate the prayers. I honestly do.
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