Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - Baden-Württemberg is popular - with eight-legged friends. As the German Nature Conservation Union (Nabu) announced on Tuesday, the Nosferatu spider, which had migrated from the Mediterranean region, has spread almost throughout Germany, but mainly in the south-west. Almost 10,000 of the 16,000 spider sightings nationwide since August have been made by people in Baden-Württemberg.
The Nosferatu spider was first discovered in Germany in 2005 in Freiburg. By 2022, nature lovers reported 500 sightings to the observation portal Naturgucker. In the summer of this year, the Nabu explicitly called for reporting Nosferatu spiders - and the sightings multiplied.
This is probably due to the increased attention and not to a rapid spread of the Nosferatu spiders, said spider expert Robert Pfeifle from Nabu. He was unable to say whether there were more observers in Baden-Württemberg compared to the rest of the country. Reports can also be made anonymously to Naturgucker.
Many Nosferatu reports have arrived, especially from the regions of Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Heidelberg and Stuttgart. There are gaps in the state in East Württemberg, Heilbronn-Franconia, in the Black Forest, in the Danube-Iller area and in Upper Swabia.
The Nosferatu spider likes warmth and lives almost exclusively in buildings in this country. She owes her name to a drawing on her back, which is supposed to be reminiscent of the film character of the same name. A bite is usually harmless as long as there is no allergy.
