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posted by janrinok on Thursday May 21 2015, @12:54AM   Printer-friendly
from the sounds-normal-for-Aus dept.

News.Com in Australia has a story and pictures of a pestilence of spiders that happens every few years when the weather is just right.

It's the strange phenomenon everyone's talking about. The unearthly sight of hundreds of gossamer white threads floating through the air and settling on fields and houses.
...
The astonishing spectacle usually occurs in May or August in Australia, when sunshine follows rainfall. It is rare because it requires an unusual weather pattern for this time of year, which is when spiders are hatching. The spiderlings are light enough to float on threads, sometimes for hundreds of kilometres at up to 20,000 feet. They have even been spotted by aircraft.

Its a migration tactic used by juvenile spiders. Spin a bit of web, and then be blown great distances, landing en masse.

The site has photos of fields covered by webs, as well the webs covered with adult spiders. An arachnophobe's worst nightmare.

 
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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Thursday May 21 2015, @01:10AM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Thursday May 21 2015, @01:10AM (#185830) Journal

    I'll just reuse this then. [australiangeographic.com.au]

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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by kramulous on Thursday May 21 2015, @07:06AM

    by kramulous (255) on Thursday May 21 2015, @07:06AM (#185924)

    Huh ... look at that. The Eastern brown is only one point above the red-belly black snake.

    We pretty much disregard the red-belly here as being non venomous (7/10 on the danger list, ahead of the great white shark). As a result, when I'm programming at my home office and I hear hissing behind me, my cat has caught another one and brought it in to show me. I'd roll my eyes, pick it up, take it outside and release it back into the bush behind my house. Give the cat a pat on the head for being a good boy.

    Might take precautions next time. Gloves or something.

     

    • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday May 21 2015, @05:49PM

      by DeathMonkey (1380) on Thursday May 21 2015, @05:49PM (#186121) Journal

      Careful. Might not be venomous enough to kill you but it surely is enough to kill your cat...