As the weather cools down, you may be noticing more spiders appearing in your home, whether you live in a house, apartment or condo.
According to Doug Taron, curator of biology and vice president of research and conservation at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, spiders are likely sitting in your home most of the year, but tend to be "a little bit noticeable towards the end of the summer and into early fall."
"There are a few spiders that will wander into people's houses and be a bit more noticeable," Taron told NBC Chicago. "I just had to remove an orb weaver from my dining room a couple of days ago, and some of that is the weather cooling off. Some of it is they're attracted to lights, because if they set a pinpoint where there is light, that's going to attract their prey."
While most people may encounter Orb weaver spiders, which are common in Illinois, another type of spider is also making its presence known. The Great Cross Spider, also known as a "ballooning spider," will largely be seen in apartments and on condo balconies, particularly along Lake Michigan.
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The spiders started in Michigan, according to Taron, but have since made their way across the Lake and into Illinois.
"They, as tiny, tiny spider lungs, do something called ballooning. They will stand in a very exposed area and then inject a very long stream of silk from their abdomens," Taron said. "And when the silk gets big enough, the wind will just sort of pick them up and start carrying them away and they disperse that way. And so some of them come all the way across Lake Michigan, and then they will land on apartment buildings and other high rise buildings because that's the first thing they run into."
If you start to see more eight-legged friends - don't panic.
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According to Taron most of the spiders that enter Chicago-area homes are "not dangerous or medically significant."
"I know people will sometimes worry about things like brown recluses. Fortunately, Chicago is too far north," Taron said. "Brown recluses are further south of here, and so that's not much of an issue. Mostly they are an annoyance for some people, particularly people with arachnophobia."
In fact, they may even be helpful.
"Spiders are very good at keeping down other pest insects that might be in your house," he said. "And there are all kinds of insects that that will live in people's houses. And and so spiders are actually fairly good at helping keep those numbers down. I tend to leave them unless they're too conspicuous. Like the one that was right over my dining room table."
