Giant Spiderweb Cloaks Land in Aitoliko, Greece

An anonymous reader shares a report: Warmer weather conditions in western Greece have led to the eerie spectacle of a 300m-long spiderweb in Aitoliko. A vast area of greenery has been covered by the web, reports the Daily Hellas. Experts say it is a seasonal phenomenon, caused by Tetragnatha spiders, which can build large nests for mating. An increase in the mosquito population is also thought to have contributed to the rise in the number of spiders. Maria Chatzaki, professor of molecular biology and genetics at Democritus University of Thrace, Greece said high temperatures, sufficient humidity and food created the ideal conditions for the species to reproduce in large numbers. She told Newsit.gr: "It's as if the spiders are taking advantage of these conditions and are having a kind of a party. They mate, they reproduce and provide a whole new generation. "These spiders are not dangerous for humans and will not cause any damage to the area's flora. The spiders will have their party and will soon die."

Siderman, we built you a new home

[pgmrdlm]

Hope you like it... You now have room for guests.

Re:

[PolygamousRanchKid]

You now have room for guests.

Wi nøt trei a høliday in Grëëcë this yër? See the løveli lakes . . . The wøndërful telephøne system . . . And mäni interesting furry spiders

Re:

[pgmrdlm]

Are spider webs strong? They found that some spider webs can withstand hurricane-force winds! Although silk is very strong, that's not the only important factor in a web's strength. Spider webs have a very complex design. The way the web is built means that if a single strand of web breaks, the strength of the web actually increases.
Just the science of how spiderwebs are built, and the size of the web mentioned in the article makes this a slashdot story. Many scientists study these webs for understanding

Futurama Quote

[mykepredko]

Reading in TFA how the spiders die after the "party" was finished made me think of the Futurama episode "Why must I be a crustacean in love?" in which Zoidberg loses his chance for mating.

Fry: So you have to choose between life without sex and a hideous, gruesome death?
Dr. Zoidberg: Yes.
Fry: Tough call.

Re:

[Ogive17]

Last week I found a headless preying mantis on my front porch. At least we know what choice he made.

Re:

[olsmeister]

The same one we all do.

Re:

[Darinbob]

Fry: "I never thought I would die this way, but I kinda always hoped. "

Re:

[syn3rg]

Sorry dude -- I tried to mod this funny, but my browser changed it to Overrated. I wish I could have that point back.... (not commenting Anon, so it removes that mod)

Re:

[Woeful Countenance]

Fry: So you have to choose between life without sex and a hideous, gruesome death? Dr. Zoidberg: Yes. Fry: Tough call.

Good news, everyone! You can have both!

Nope...

[bosef1]

Nope, uh-uh, no way, no, burn it with fire...

Re:

[E-Rock]

They're eating mosquitoes. That's got to be points in their favor.

Re:

[Seven Spirals]

I started down the "burn them with fire" road, until I read that part about the mosquitoes. I hate them worse. Yeah, okay then, have your party little spiders. The enemy of my enemy is my friend (for now... kinda).

Re:

[olsmeister]

I suppose the next population boom will be these. [wikipedia.org] I have these in my house sometimes. They kill the spiders, but man are they ugly bastards.

Re:

[RailRide]

Oh, the house centipede? Creepy-looking and they move with disturbing speed when spooked. But if they don't find anything to eat, they generally move on

Spiders on the other hand, don't move on, and I have an issue with them erecting webs in my living space

.(protip, a green laser pointer is particularly useful in lighting up otherwise invisible webs lurking in odd corners where one might stick their hands without looking)

The nearest parallel I've seen to the condition in TFA is the huge nasty-looking "b

Re:

[tlhIngan]

I started down the "burn them with fire" road, until I read that part about the mosquitoes. I hate them worse. Yeah, okay then, have your party little spiders. The enemy of my enemy is my friend (for now... kinda).

I prefer the spiders, they keep the insect population at bay.

Once a wasp decided to create a nest outside the door to our secondary suite. It didn't last long - the nest stayed tiny, but the next year, the number of spider webs (all inhabited by spiders big and small) were plentiful. Never encount

Re:

[commodore64_love]

When I find a spiderweb in my home I leave it there. The spider is harmless, but the other insects it catches are deadly or disease-ridden. I figure the spider is like the beneficial bacteria in my intestine... contributing to my well-being.

Spiders are your friend

[Alwin Henseler]

That's the reason I regard spiders as 'friendly room mates': they rarely bother me, while I hate a lot of what's on their menu. Not to mention there are no (or extremely few) poisonous spiders where I live. Never understood people's fear of them other than the surprise of one dropping into your field of vision unexpected. YMMV if you live in (mostly tropical) areas where poisonous creatures crawl into your shoes or lurk under toilet seats etc.

So I never hit spiders with a fly squatter, move them out of t

Now it begins!

[DrTJ]

It will be our undoing. This is the first sign of a world wide web!

Re:

[CrimsonAvenger]

It will be our undoing. This is the first sign of a world wide web!

Bad joke! Bad! No cookie for you!

Kinda familiar

[bobdehnhardt]

The spiders will have their party and will soon die.

Just like college...

Children of Time

[Allasard]

Reminds me of this great sci-fi book I just read. If you ever wanted to know what spiders might think about the world.
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky [amazon.com]

Re:

[commodore64_love]

> 1 New Hardcover from $1,060.11

WOW. For that price this "book" better be a 100-volume encyclopedia. I'm trying to imagine anyone who would pay that much for a scifi novel.

Re:

[GrumpySteen]

It's either a pricing bot glitch or it's someone who is laundering money through Amazon.

Who knew?

[Falconnan]

So what we're saying is, this is the arachnid version of, "Eat, drink, and be merry!"

This does not make me like them more.

Re:

[olsmeister]

Wait, aren't the mosquitoes eating the plastic? Then the spiders eat the mosquitoes? So really the spiders are eating the plastic and these webs may never biodegrade. This is a catastrophe.

WTF?

[nospam007]

News for people with arachnophobia, stuff that matters for Greeks, not Geeks.

Giant Spiderweb Cloaks Land

[weilawei]

I've never seen a whole cloak made out of spiderweb! Much less a flying one.

Neato.

Bad picture

[tsa]

The picture that comes with the article really is the worst nature pic I have ever seen. I have no idea what is on there. There is nothing redognizable apart from the water so there is nothing there to give you an indication of scale. The lighting is wrong. Composition is non-existing. Really, the article improves by not adding the picture.