More and bigger spiders noticeable in Montreal this fall

With the plastic and paper version of them starting to become more visible come the real spiders that are more prevalent around Montreal in October.

McGill University entomologist Chris Buddle said that with winter approaching, spiders are bigger than normal and seen more often.

"The reason they're large is because they're ready to lay their eggs," he said. "Then the female spiders will die once the colder weather and the frost comes."

Buddle said that mature orb-weaver spiders are big and very noticeable this year.

"If you remember the story, Charlotte's Web, she builds that beautiful web with the hub in the middle and the spirals around it," he said. "Those are the species that were that are quite large, and we're seeing quite commonly this time of year."

He said that this time of year, many spiders want to move indoors where it's warmer and that they do a lot of good in our houses.

"They're eating other little critters that we don't want in our house and having them up on the crown moulding or down in the basement, they're really not harming much," he said.

While the mother spider will not make it through the winter, her cluster of young ones will.

A group of spiders is called a "clutter" or a "cluster."

"Their egg sacs will live all over the winter, and then it all starts again. It's the circle of spider life," said Buddle.