Residents of Goulburn, Australia, are dealing with a strange situation. Spiders take over the Australian town, spreading their silk webs over the surface of the entire city area. Millions of tiny spiders rained down over a massive landscape, causing wonder and concern among inhabitants.
Spider rain is not a common phenomenon and it usually happens when large groups of arachnids migrate all at once, using a technique commonly known as “ballooning”.
A recent study found in the Journal of Arachnology reveals how spiders can spin out dozens of silk strands at once so that they can eventually form a triangular parachute, leaving way for the smart critters to catch a breeze toward new ground.
Ballooning is actually a very popular behavior among spiders but that it hasn’t ever been spotted on such a large scale.
It is known to be a very useful skill for tiny arachnids, which allows them to travel faster. With this technique, spiders can travel for miles.
Ballooning actually allows spiders to travel and spread across the world. The event that took place today Golbrun simply unveils a massive concentration of spiders ballooning all over the place.
This usually happens in the hot months of May and August, when baby spiders try to migrate from one place to another by unveiling massive silk webs through the sky. Silky webs then fall to the ground and cover it with foggy, sci-fie scenario silk.
When the spiders land somewhere, their silk balloons shape up in large curtains spreading over the ground. This event, commonly known as “angel hair” usually happens after heavy rains or floods. Spiders who are used to living in the ground throw silk into the air to help them get on the surface. Sometimes, huge numbers of spiders escape drowning this way, with their silk roads weaving a shroud over trees, grass, buildings and other surfaces where they find a good place for living.
We’ve been used to the saying it’s raining cats and dogs but with natural events surprisingly overwhelming us, change sayings as well. From now on, we can easily and realistically say that it’s raining spiders and silk webs. As peculiar as it seems, it is only natural that once in a while massive populations of spiders to raise above the surface and try to survive and migrate with the help of their unique techniques.
And above all, our eyes sometimes need to see surprising events happening, to take us away a bit from our daily routine that makes life dull. So we should just let the spiders take over Australian town, if they wish so. As scary as it appears when you think about it, it’s completely fascinating to see a gigantic animal community trying to make it in the very disturbed natural world we are all living in.
Image Source: io9.com
