by Nick Delgado

Guam - The creepy crawler population is becoming more obvious for residents following a new research study that shows Guam has 40 times more spiders than the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The study was released by biologists from Rice University, the University of Washington and the University of Guam. Local entomologist Dr. Aubrey Moore says the theory is mass amount of spiders is caused by the brown tree snakes picking off the birds.

He told KUAM News, "It doesn't really impact agriculture too much because we see spiders as being beneficial organisms, they are related to insects called arachnids and they are all predators that feed on insects."

He adds the next step would be to research the large amount of insect population the island has. That includes invasive species such as the coconut rhino beetle that harm our coconut trees. Moore says the most recent problem is the fire ants that kill off our wild animal population. "We are in the very early stage and after it was detected surveys were put on and there are now seven sites where it has been located, we are not controlling it now and no decision has been made on how to handle this problem," he said.

Moore says most fire ant reports are noted in the northern and central part of the island.