For all those who have arachnophobia, don’t worry; the mild to warm fall weather that we’ll see this week, will only mean that you may have a few bigger spiders to deal with in and around your home than you normally would! There is no science to this theory, but instead more common sense than anything else. Since we live in a moist continental mid-latitude climate, where the months of September and October have been known to stay milder, than our neighbors to the north, insects can then thrive for longer, and that means spiders can eat more, getting bigger themselves.

So why do they need to be our homes? Well, even though we can get milder than normal fall seasons, the days are still getting shorter and the temperature is still going to decrease. Spiders and other insects seem to have an understanding of this, and as a result, we might start to see bigger spider webs if the weather is going to get colder. The transition of temperatures heading from fall to winter brings all the unwanted pesky insects heading inside, your home and where the insects go, so do the spiders. There certainly are changes in insect behavior we can see at this time of year, and it shows that they are predicting the adaptations they need to make as the weather changes.