107-Million-Spiders Found.......

[Exoskeleton Invertebrates]

It's too bad that these spiders aren't tarantulas.
http://inhabitat.com/107-million-spiders-found-in-4-acre-nest-at-baltimore-wastewater-plant/

 

[MetalMan2004]

Cool! My question is how large of a bug population/ infestation is there to support such a colony of spiders??? If its the largest colony of spiders in the US then I'd guess its also the largest feeder insect population in the US.

 

[miss moxie]

Reminds me of the spiders that made homes in trees during a flood in Pakistan!

Edit: Originally posted it with the wrong location, mixed it up with a similar event in another country.

 

[cold blood]

Cool! My question is how large of a bug population/ infestation is there to support such a colony of spiders??? If its the largest colony of spiders in the US then I'd guess its also the largest feeder insect population in the US.

Dude, its a WASTEwater treatment plant, ya know, like sewage and poop....the very nature of the facility is a bug attractant.

 

[cold blood]

Reminds me of the spiders that made homes in trees during a flood in Australia!

Austrailia??? The article says Pakistan.

 

[miss moxie]

Austrailia??? The article says Pakistan.

Ah my bad! Something very similar happened in Australia too, which was what I was originally thinking of.

 

[cold blood]

Haha, when I clicked on that I half expected to see an article from Austria...teehee

 

[Duriana]

"A nightmare straight out of arachnophobia"? More like spider heaven for us

 

[RTTB]

An insane amount of spiders!

 

[Ungoliant]

It's too bad that these spiders aren't tarantulas.
http://inhabitat.com/107-million-spiders-found-in-4-acre-nest-at-baltimore-wastewater-plant/

The masses of webs were first discovered by horrified employees of the Baltimore Wastewater Treatment Plant in 2009. The webbing engulfed almost the entire ceiling of the massive warehouse, occupying two to three feet extending from the ceiling. In some places, the webs are so thick that they permanently damaged structure fixtures and lighting, pulling them down with their weight.

I wonder what happened to the spiders afterwards. I hope some effort was made to save some of them from extermination.

 

[spotropaicsav]

Wow, neat. Looking at the pictures, seeing the heavy webbing on the structures reminds me of how tent worm caterpillars take over trees.

 

[MetalMan2004]

Dude, its a WASTEwater treatment plant, ya know, like sewage and poop....the very nature of the facility is a bug attractant.

But I learned from another current thread that bugs can be very clean. In fact some are even neat freaks!

 

[Ratmosphere]

So radical!

 

[keks]

Absolutely unreal. I hope they leave them alone -.-" .

 

[schmiggle]

But I learned from another current thread that bugs can be very clean. In fact some are even neat freaks!

As with humans, they run the gamut. Ants are so clean they have special cleaning extensions of the leg. They have to be clean to avoid pathogens from living underground. And then you have dung beetles.

 

[keks]

As with humans, they run the gamut. Ants are so clean they have special cleaning extensions of the leg. They have to be clean to avoid pathogens from living underground. And then you have dung beetles.

I think dung beatles will clean themselves too after their hard work with the dung balls ^^.

 

[schmiggle]

I think dung beatles will clean themselves too after their hard work with the dung balls ^^.

I actually meant the larvae eat only dung. As do adults of many species, actually. The larvae also get to live in it.

 

[keks]

I actually meant the larvae eat only dung. As do adults of many species, actually. The larvae also get to live in it.

Erm. Yes the larvae eat dung. And I know dogs who eat the dung of other animals (not mine, thankfully) .

 

[Jason Brantley]

What if it was burrito night...

 

[miss moxie]

Haha, when I clicked on that I half expected to see an article from Austria...teehee

You'd better hope I'm not that bad with directions and locations.

Or else those slings are going to end up in Pennsylvania instead of Transylvania where I really live.