Giant Communal Spider Web Found in Dallas, Texas
Posted on August 10, 2015
Spiders in a Dallas, Texas suburb have built a giant communal web. The web was found in Rowlett Park. The enormous web is home to thousands of spiders. Some portions of the web extended 40 feet up into the trees.
The giant spider web was reported by Mike Merchant, a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service urban entomologist in Dallas. North Texas is also known for the appearance of another giant spider web several years ago. That web was discovered at Lake Tawakoni State Park in 2007.
Merchant says in a statement, "CA Roan Drive is a quiet stretch of road running through Lakeside Park South in the Dallas suburb of Rowlett. But in the trees along a football field-length stretch of the drive, the spiders have been taking over. 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."
The spider species Tetragnatha guatemalensis is known to sometimes build communal nests at night under the right conditions. However, they are considered very rare in the U.S. They spiders do not attack other spiders of the same species. Merchant says the spiders are "not known to bite or be harmful to humans." He says there is nothing to worry about with the over-sized web full of thousands of spiders.
WFAA also released a story on the giant web and a video news report. Take a look:
Update: This video shows a similar megaweb filmed at Arkansas Bend State Park.
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