Flooding in New South Wales Australia, near the town of Waga Waga has forced thousands of people from their homes. But the floods have also forced many times more spiders from their underground habitat and they have taken up temporary residence on the plants and trees of local homes and farms.
The spiders are Wolf Spiders, which we know travel in great numbers, and are harmless to people, and dogs. But not so much to Mosquitos.
And it turns out the spiders are actually doing quite a bit of good while setting up shop above ground. The spiders are feasting on mosquitoes and other insect populations that have boomed with the increased moisture brought about by the rising waters.
“The amount of mosquitoes around would be incredible because of all this water,” Taronga Zoo spider keeper Brett Finlayson told the Sydney Morning Herald. “The spiders don’t pose any harm at all. They are doing us a favor. They are actually helping us out.” [Yahoo News]
The phenomenon of spiders being displaced by foods like this is not uncommon. But spiders don’t just crawl away from the rising torrent of flood water, they fly. By using their silky web as a sail in rising air, they float away to drier land.
For more photos and info check out the story on Yahoo News.
-Mike
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