In a notice posted on the organiser’s website on Thursday, visitors were urged to report any sightings of the spiders – easily identified by the distinctive red stripe on their backs – to expo staff, and were advised not to try to catch the creatures themselves.
Pest control specialists have been called in to exterminate dozens of spiders found in off-limits areas, but a wider warning has now been issued after a nest containing eggs was discovered on a table being used by visitors on September 9.
Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura (left) with Japan’s farms minister Shinjiro Koizumi at the Osaka Expo on August 21. Yoshimura has warned visitors to be on alert for redback spiders at the expo. Photo: Kyodo
“Redback spiders live throughout the prefecture,” Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura said in a social media post.