Banana Spiders in Mississippi

This is my first day here so forgive me if this has been answered.
I’m looking for someone with knowelege of spiders.
I live in southern Ms on 9 acres and for a long time now we have encouraged and protected the big yellow banana spiders here. They have kept us free from most flying pests but this year they did not return…AT ALL?! NOT ONE???
Can anyone tell me how or why they would seemingly vanish in just one year?
I
Can I bring them back somehow?

2 Likes

hi @catman, welcome - you’ve stumbled on the iNaturalist forum rather than iNaturalist.org itself, where people share nature sightings. Since this discussion isn’t about iNaturalist itself, I’ve moved it over to the #nature-talk category. I also updated your topic title to specify Mississippi since this forum is international in scope (if that was incorrect, feel free to re-adjust it!).

1 Like

I’m not a spider expert, but we had these all over our yard when I was a kid.
The banana spiders you usually notice are the mature females. It takes a while for them to grow, so you may notice more as the summer progresses.
If you’ve had a weird year, climate-wise, it can have a big impact on arthropod populations, so early or late frosts, droughts or extra wet seasons, these could all depress the population for a year or two afterward.
Finally, if I remember correctly, these spiders make big silky egg cases that overwinter, so watch when you’re doing cleanup in the fall, and make sure you’re not mowing/composting/burning vegetation with the egg cases.

1 Like

We lost all of ours after Hurricane Katrina, but they are still in the woods and they are slowly coming back. They aren’t apparent yet as it’s too early in spring. I’m not going to say transplant them, but I bet there will be plenty in your local woods come midsummer.

2 Likes

This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.