Large creepy crawly found in Edmonton
Posted August 24, 2021 8:16 pm.
EDMONTON (CityNews) – A big creepy crawler was spotted in Edmonton.
The picture of the spider was first posted to Reddit — the poster saying he found the leggy bug in a warehouse in the city.
CityNews reached out to an expert, spider conservation biologist Jamie Pinzon to find out what kind of spider it was.
“So I checked the photo and it belongs to a specific group of spiders which are the funnel weaving spiders,” explained Pinzon.
He says this species of funnel weaving spiders are native to Alberta, and it’s common to find them in human dwellings.
“Within that group, there are 20 species in Canada and six species in Alberta.”
But if you think this spider is big, think again. There are larger ones that live in the province.
“For example fishing spiders, they are pretty large. They are mostly associated to ponds. And some of the species within the wolf spiders are probably as big or bigger than the one we see in this picture.”
While they might make your skin crawl, Pinzon says this spider and many others we find in our country are completely harmless.
Adding they play an important part in our ecosystem as they feed mainly on insects and helping to control that population.
“Most of the spiders are beneficial, they just live their lives without you even noticing them below your feet.”
