A giant spider web in Texas has been causing the creeps among motorists and residents driving through CA Roan Drive in Rowlett lately. The eerie web, as what some people have described it, hangs on a series of trees aligned on the said route, but it's not because of the works of Spider-Man.
CA Roan Drive is a long road running through Lakeside Park South located in Rowlett, a suburb in Dallas, Texas. The road, which is about the size of a football field, is generally silent but the spiders have been ruling that long stretch of trees.
"Someone stepping off the road for a closer look will see thousands of lanky spiders darting among the webs that extend up to 40 feet into the trees," says Mike Merchant, urban entomologist at the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service in Dallas. The arrangement of the widespread webs covering the trees is somewhat surreal in quality.
The spread of the glistening webs hanging on trees are not considered extremely unusual because even if it is generally rare in occurrence, some people are already aware that these types of web art do exist. Merchant cited an example that happened in 2007, when media reports featured a giant spider web that was seen at Lake Tawakoni State Park, which is approximately 35 miles from Rowlett.
The exposure of the giant web in 2007 drew more response and created a more "eerie" feel even among arachnologists as it served as a "revelation" for the spider experts, said Merchant. As spiders usually build their web alone, the discovery of the extensive web was quite a surprise. The spiders look as if it engaged in a communal project that fostered cooperation among its species. The giant web found in 2007 was identified as the ultimate work of a type of spiders known as Tetragnatha guatemalensis.
Tetragnatha guatemalensis is known for weaving communal habitats for their species when the condition is right but according to Merchant, seeing that it built a large web in the US can be considered rare. According to experts, one of the factors that comprised the so-called "right condition" is the over presence of midges and other small insects that appear from lakes during the night. The absence of food will not result in such web formation.
These spiders are not aggressive. They do not bite and are not hazardous for humans. With this, treatments with insecticides are not necessary. The species just makes really creepy giant webs but are basically benign so it's best to consider them as a work of art. "If you get the chance to take a drive along CA Roan Drive in Rowlett, you might want to take a few moments to stop and admire this spider handiwork. But please don't touch the art," Merchant closes.
Photo: brad wofford | Flickr
