first floods.... then.

[Bird]

Wont be campin there for a while.... imagine waking up to ya tent being coated in em

As people are evacuated from their flood-stricken homes in NSW, one resident is staying put - the spider.

There has been a huge growth in the spider population across the state this season, with webs as large as the fields they cover spotted in Wagga Wagga.


A house is surrounded by spiderwebs in Wagga Wagga

And experts say residents should welcome the increase in spiders, as their eight-legged counterparts are helping to keeping the mosquito population down.

So why has there been a population explosion?

Taronga Zoo's spider keeper Brett Finlayson said it was all down to the wet weather.


A dog walks through spiderwebs in Wagga Wagga. Photo: Reuters

The orb spiders, responsible for spinning the large webs between trees, live for one year. They become adults during the summer season and lay eggs, which hatch in autumn.

"There are more airborne and water-borne insects due to the rain, and so there's a greater food supply for spiders. So more are surviving through to adulthood," he said.

But the rain is doing something else - it is making spider webs stickier, meaning more insects and bugs are getting stuck in the filaments.


Weaving their magic ... a house is surrounded by spiderwebs in Wagga Wagga. Photo: Reuters

Spiders are drinking the extra water droplets hanging from their webs, while the drops are making webs more visible to humans.

"The rain sticks to the webs," Mr Finlayson said. "You may have walked past [the web] before, but now you can see it."

And as such spiders are fully grown during this season, they are more visible, Mr Finlayson said, adding that he had received a lot of questions about arachnids from zoo visitors this year.


http://www.theage.com.au/environment/weather/spiders-spin-their-webs-in-the-wagga-wet-as-population-explodes-20120307-1ujov.html

[blackcat]

I was just reading this too, more pics here
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/glanceview/219098/wagga-spiders-spin-fields-of-webs.glance

Glad to say I'm looking at this from this side of the screen

[Snow]

What you would give to see Laith's reaction as he opens this thread.

They are only 'wee' little spiders mate. 

[GOLDIE]

What you would give to see Laith's reaction as he opens this thread.

They are only 'wee' little spiders mate. 
[/quote

That would be funny snow I'm sure that he would make Ryan or Jodie  close the page and report it to the mods

[Black Diamond]

There are a lot of things I can tolerate in life, but Spiders make my skin crawl 
And they are everywhere at the moment, big fat bastards.
BD

[Bird]

There are a lot of things I can tolerate in life, but Spiders make my skin crawl 
And they are everywhere at the moment, big fat bastards.
BD

I ended up lettin off 6 of them mortien bombs in the shed the other day, havent seen a living thing in there since...