Nosferatu spider is spreading more and more in Germany - Bavaria is also increasingly affected

Created: 2022-09-20 04:56

By: Jennifer Lanzinger

A closeup of the Nosferatu spider (Zoropsis spinimana).

© IMAGO / Panthermedia

It is likely to make many people uncomfortable at first: the Nosferatu spider is spreading more and more in Germany.

The animal can also be found more and more frequently in Bavaria.

Hanover - Quite a few people are afraid of spiders, especially large specimens should cause a great shock to one or the other.

The fact that another species is currently spreading in Germany should also contribute to this.

The Nosferatu spider, which actually comes from the south, is being sighted in more and more German regions.

She is quite tall, very hairy and has long legs.

Nosferatu spider is spreading more and more in Germany - Bavaria is also increasingly affected

The name of the spider alone should cause initial discomfort, but the eight-legged friend should still be harmless.

According to information from conservationists, the spider, which actually comes from the Mediterranean region and is basically harmless, has also reached Lower Saxony.

There are reports from Hanover, Göttingen and Osnabrück, but the spider has also been sighted several times in Oldenburg and East Frisia, according to the Lower Saxony Nature Conservation Union (Nabu).

The species was first detected in Germany in 2005 and has since spread widely.

The spider has also been sighted several times in Bavaria, for the first time in 2015 in Schweinfurt.

This was announced by a spokesman for the Bavarian State Office for the Environment.

In 2019 there were two more finds and since 2020 it has been discovered by more and more people.

The Nosferatu spider is now considered “moderately common” in Bavaria.

This corresponds to level 3 in a six-level system, explained the biologist and spider expert Theo Blick, who, as spokesman for the Arachnological Society, is dedicated to the scientific exchange on arachnids.

Across Germany, the Nosferatu spider, which belongs to the curled-hunting spider family, is already "very common" (level 6).

An upward trend can also be observed in Bavaria.

Nosferatu spider was probably a "holiday souvenir" - it can release its venom on a bite

The spider owes its name to the characteristic drawing on its back, which is reminiscent of the film character Nosferatu from the silent film classic of the same name, the first film adaptation of the "Dracula" novel.

The species (Zoropsis spinimana), which belongs to the family of curled-hunting spiders, has a body length of one to two centimeters and a leg span of about five centimetres.

"The first Nosferatu spiders found in Germany are probably holiday souvenirs that then multiplied in the shelter of the houses," said Frederik Eggers, team leader for nature and environmental protection at Nabu Lower Saxony.

"Climate change and the associated mild winters are now promoting the spread of the animals." In this country, the Nosferatu spider, which hunts its prey without a web, can be found primarily on house walls or garden sheds, on balconies and terraces.

Together with the Naturgucker network, Nabu collects data from sightings on a platform.

This should enable documentation of the occurrence of this species and the factors influencing its distribution, Eggers said.

According to Nabu, you don't have to be overly afraid of the animal, even if, like all spiders, they use poison to stun their prey.

Unlike most spider species living in Germany, they can penetrate human skin with their biting tools.

But the bite in humans can usually be compared to a bee or wasp sting - provided there is no allergy.

A bite usually only occurs when the spider feels threatened, said the Nabu expert.

You shouldn't catch them with your bare hands.