Spiders – Lots And Lots Of Spiders

This video may just make you want to take Brazil off your list of travel spots. I think my best friend has, she is terrified of spiders and by spiders I mean one and by one I mean one the size of a pea.  I’m guessing that she sent me this because I need to go to her house and close the laptop so she can get down off the chair.

I must admit though, even though I am not particularly afraid of spiders, this video did make me pause and taught me a few things I never knew about arachnids.

First I read that sociability among spiders has independently evolved many times and is a highly conserved trait among some genera. What that means is that a bunch of spiders will all work together so they can create much larger webs and take down much larger prey.  The post went on to say that one particular species in South America, Anelosimus eximius, can form colonies up to 50,000 strong, capable of making massive sheet webs that start near the ground and stretch up about 20 m (65 ft) high.

This particular YouTube video was taken by a man in Brazil leaving an engagement party of a friend. Upon his exit he noticed large group of spiders dangling overhead. They are guessing this was caused by gusts of wind which destroyed the web in the trees and caused the spiders to temporarily take flight on the wind. The power lines were just a good place to stop and re-group. Ay caramba!!