Yellow sac spiders infest Mazda cars, cause recall
Japanese automaker, Mazda, is recalling over 65,000 cars due to an unlikely arachnid infestation.
Erase the image of a B-grade horror movie from your imagination. A spokesman from Mazda said that yellow sac spiders (cheiracanthium) had simply built small webs in the crucial vent lines. If those vent lines were to get fully blocked by webbing, the car's fuel tank could conceivably build up enough pressure to crack and leak fuel.
The risk of damage to the fuel tank and resulting fire hazard has Mazda issuing a recall of more than 50,000 Mazda6 cars from the US, and another 15,000 from Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.
Individual owners will be contacted in the next two weeks, but the affected Mazda6 models seem to be 2.5L models built between April 2008 and February 2010.
Twenty webs from yellow sac spiders have been found in Mazda6 vent lines so far, but the company believes no other Mazda models have been affected. It is unknown how the spiders got into these cars in the first place, or why they are only found in the Mazda6.
Referring to the model’s marketing slogan, Mazda spokesman Jeremy Barnes joked, "Perhaps yellow sac spiders like to go zoom-zoom?"
No fires, crashes, or injuries related to the spider webs have been reported.
Affected cars can be brought to local dealers where mechanics will be able to check and clean the vent line, and install a device to prevent spiders from crawling inside again.
