“…As common and abundant predators, spiders play a central role in natural and agricultural ecosystems (Hogg et al, 2010; Michalko et al, 2019; Nyffeler & Birkhofer, 2017; Pétillon et al, 2020). Yet, the underlying mechanisms of invasions by spiders have only recently started to receive scientific attention (Bauer et al, 2019; Campbell et al, 2020; Chuang & Riechert, 2021, 2022; Mowery et al, 2021, 2022; Narimanov et al, 2022; Narimanov, Hatamli, et al, 2021, Narimanov, Kempel, et al, 2021; Nentwig, 2015), most likely due to the prevalently synanthropic lifestyle and limited evidence for economic damage by spiders (Kobelt & Nentwig, 2008). To our knowledge, the range dynamics and evolution of rapidly spreading spiders are largely unexplored (Chuang & Peterson, 2016; but see Chuang & Riechert, 2021, 2022; Mowery et al, 2021, 2022; Wolz et al, 2020).…”