UCLA's Spider Bloom

Posted on 28 September, 2023 / 1 min read

It was a bright autumn day as I walked down the Hill, the moniker given to the cluster of dormitories northwest of UCLA's main campus.

I ventured into De Neve and decided to do some ResLife work in the ORL. That's when I overheard a friend recount a horrific saga from the night before. She was leaving her apartment to go on a drive when she nearly ran head-first into a spiderweb inconveniently hanging right across the threshold of her front door. The spider was no small arachnid, and its frightfulness could be deduced from the narrator's tone. Fortunately, she was equipped with bug spray and quickly dispatched the octopod.

Her story was not a fluke. Venturing around UCLA's campus, one would be bound to spot at least half a dozen such large hairy spiders spinning webs in previously unoccupied areas such as between stairrails, doorframes, streetlights, and palm trees.

Fortunately, it appears the spider surge has diminished, but, for funsies, I've documented a few of the spiders (and other bugs) I encountered this Fall.