People who fear extra-large spiders might want to choose to live out in the country. Because not only do spiders live in cities, they thrive and get fat there.
According to a new study, spiders living in cities are notably bigger than those living out in the bush. They love the warmth of the urban heat island effect, the abundance of delicious insects that stupidly congregate around street lamps, and the artistic and cultural opportunities that the ‘burbs and the country just can’t provide.
Ph.D. candidate Lizzy Lowe examined 222 spiders in Sydney, Australia, and in the bushland surrounding it. She looked at the spiders’ size, weight, and body fat, hopefully without giving them too many body image issues, and found that city spiders were bigger. And even within cities, the spiders that lived closest to human-made objects were larger than the rest.
So, arachnophobes, you should either counterintuitively stay in the country to avoid spiders or, alternatively, steer clear of city lampposts.
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