THE MAIN STREET bridge in Ohio’s capital might appear to be decked out for Halloween, but officials say the extensive webs spotted by motorists at night are real.
The Columbus Dispatch reports the $60 million bridge connecting downtown Columbus and Franklinton is infested with thousands of web-spinning spiders of different varieties.
Ohio State University professor David Shetlar specialises in urban landscape entomology and estimates the bridge has 5,000 to 10,000 spiders.
The spiders are from a number of different species including an “arabesque orb-weaver, which is known for its graceful weaving.
“Another is something out of an arachnophobe’s nightmare — it’s called a long-jawed orb weaver,” according to the Columbus Dispatch.
Ohio Division of Wildlife naturalist Jim McCormac says the sheer number of spiders is evidence of good health for the Scioto River underneath
A $35.5 million project narrowed the river for the creation of a 33-acre park with 800 trees and 75,000 plants.
McCormac says that allows for more insects in the area, and the spiders followed their food.
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