Cloudy with A Chance of Spiders
Its Raining Spiders in Australia...
Millions of tiny spiders recently fell from the sky in Australia, alarming residents whose properties were suddenly covered with not only the creepy critters, but also mounds of their silky threads. But that's not where the frightful news ends: Experts say that such arachnid rains aren't as uncommon as you might think.
This month's spider downpour in the country's Southern Tablelands region is just the most recent example of a phenomenon commonly known as "spider rain" or, in some circles, "angel hair," because of the silky, hairlike threads the spiders leave behind. Ian Watson, who lives in the region affected by the spooky shower, took to Facebook to describe what this strange "weather" looks like, according to the Goulburn Post.
"Anyone else experiencing this "Angel Hair" or maybe aka millions of spiders falling from the sky right now? I'm 10 minutes out of town, and you can clearly see hundreds of little spiders floating along with their webs and my home is covered in them. Someone call a scientist! Watson wrote on the Goulburn Community Forum Facebook page.
So, here at Live Science, call a scientist (or two) is exactly what we did. Rick Vetter, a retired arachnologist at the University of California, Riverside, said Watson and his neighbors likely saw a form of spider transportation known as ballooning.
"Ballooning is a not-uncommon behavior of many spiders. They climb some high area and stick their butts up in the air and release silk. Then they just take off," Vetter told Live Science. "This is going on all around us all the time. We just don't notice it."
The reason people don't usually notice this ingenious spider behavior is that it's not common for millions of spiders to do this at the same time, and then land in the same place, said Todd Blackledge, a biology professor at the University of Akron in Ohio.
"In these kinds of events [spider rains], what's thought to be going on is that there's a whole cohort of spiders that's ready to do this ballooning dispersal behavior, but for whatever reason, the weather conditions haven't been optimal and allowed them to do that. But then the weather changes, and they have the proper conditions to balloon, and they all start to do it," Blackledge told Live Science.
This is likely what happened in New South Wales, where certain species of small spiders as well as the tiny hatchlings of larger spider species are known to balloon around the Outback during late autumn (May) and early spring (August). But, as Blackledge explained, an abrupt change in the weather or wind pattern may have carried these migrating spiders up and away and then back down to earth en mass not the orderly dispersal that they (or the residents of the Southern Tablelands region) were expecting.
For the startled citizens of Goulburn and surrounding areas, however, the tiny spiders raining down from the sky probably pose no threat to humans, both Blackledge and Vetter said.
"There's a tiny, tiny number of species that have venom that's actually dangerous to people. And even then, if these are juvenile spiders, they're going to be too small to even bite, in all likelihood," Blackledge said.
However, such a huge group of spiders could damage crops, which might become so enshrouded in silk that they don't get enough sunlight, Vetter said.
Watson (the Goulburn resident who recommended that someone call a scientist) noted that tiny spiders have a way of becoming entangled in human facial hair.
"You couldn't go out without getting spider webs on you. And I've got a beard as well, so they kept getting in my beard," Watson told Yahoo News.
Source: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/cloudy-with-a-chance-of-arachnids-spider-rain-explained/ar-BBjUFMR?ocid=ansLiveScience11
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R W
Interesting, unusual and ick are the three things that come to mind!
I've seen this happen before, but not to that extent.
Das a lot of spiders......
RW,
Hubby wants to travel to Australia (bucket list item) and I'm trying to determine weather conditions, time of the year, how to see the northern region and southern region during the same trip....now I have to factor spider showers!!!
Yikes, one spider shower and trust me we're gone!
I don't mind spiders at all...but a spider shower??? NO THANK YOU!!
I'm with you RW!They are tremendous to have inmy garden keeping other critters in check yet I've not found a redeeming reason to have them in my house
So they along with the skinks, wasps, toads, and other creeping creatures must live outside!
I like spiders virtually all are venomous to a degree but are great macro photo subjects.
Are red box rules REALLY necessary for an article like this?
What I once experienced at my home in Ontario Cottage Country was a rain of caterpillars. We had to run from the car to the cottage holding an umbrella over our heads.
You are aware that the ones that live inside the house cannot survive outside and vice versa.
And, there is probably one sitting there watching you right now...
You're creeping me out! Here I thought I was seeing them in the house because they were coming up from the crawl space.
If the ones I find in the house cannot live outside, well guess it sucks to be them...they will die
Nah, I sympathize, those that decide to show themselves find it a short existence in my house also. There are plenty more where they came from.
What is unusual is that they are being seen, either they have grown too large to hide themselves anymore, or were in the middle of finding a new room when they got caught.
Common house spider normally grows to 1.5 inches in size but have been seen to 2 inches... (measured from front to back leg) and are about 4-5 years old at that point, they are pretty much harmless and do the same thing inside that their cousins do outside, keep the other nasty pests in line.
They are voracious hunters and experts at it also.
A lot to admire there but when it comes right down to it, get dished, get squished...
By the time I finish with them, measuring is not an option! However, if I ever find a 2" one creeping around, we're moving or contracting with Orkin
Hi there, I'm Jumping Spider, your new neighbor, can I borrow a cup of, hmmmmmm bugs.
You're welcome to any and all outside Mr. Jumpy!
This is one awesome photo, not that I'd want an 8x10 glossy, but the detail is fabulous!
That's a cute one but looks can be deceiving...
Yeah, looks like a sinister smile to me
Nice close ups!
You are aware that he's hunting too...
(They called me cute...?)
They were dropping down on threads like raindrops - I had never seen that happen before and happily never again. They did quite a job on the decidious (leafy?) trees in the area, but fortunately we had mostly pine trees around us.
Where are his other 6 eyes ??
Falling spiders are not the only dangerous thing in Aussie.
The Tree Kangaroo, if he jumps out of a tree and lands on you...Ohhhhh, not good.
It looks like a mini Chewbacca.
Yet, it's still cuter than little eightlegs and probably not poisonous.
Most certainly going to leave a mark if he falls on us!
Me too. It happened here in the DFW area a couple of years ago. The white, fluffy, cotton-candy-like fiber was everywhere. It was quite spectacular, andsome-what frightening until we learned what it was via the evening news.After that, myyikes-o-meter was off the scale for about a week. With every little tickle, I was running around slapping myself, absolutely certain that I was being devoured by the little buggers. Did I mention that I hate spiders? I don't just hate spiders... I. HATE. Spiders.
I've not found a redeeming reason to have them in my house
We don't either, but fight a constant battle to keep Daddy Long Legs spiders from the upper corners of our walls this time of year. In fact most of the year. We vacuum them and the cobwebs away as much as we can, but if we go more then a week without doing anything, there are webs and the spiders in just about every corner of every room. The house begins to look like The Munsters house, with all of the cobwebs. You just sort of get used to them and take it for granted that they're going to be there, no matter how much you vacuum.
I heard a saying somewhere that you're never more then ten feet away from a spider, if you know it or not.
Yes Lynne size does seem to make a difference to me when it comes to spiders.
Sort of fascinating! Also, I'm glad I don't live there!
We're dealing with allergies-- every morning my car has a green haze of pollen on it. At least spiders don't make me sneeze, as a rule...