folks did you saw the news about a huge spider web
I am not a fan of spiderman but this is interesting.
WILLS POINT, Texas - Entomologists are debating the origin
and rarity of a sprawling spider web that blankets several trees,
shrubs and the ground along a 200-yard stretch of trail in a North
Texas park. Officials at Lake Tawakoni State Park say the massive
mosquito trap is a big attraction for some visitors, while others
wont go anywhere near it. At first, it was so white it looked
like fairyland, said Donna Garde, superintendent of the park about
45 miles east of Dallas. Now its filled with so many mosquitoes
that its turned a little brown. There are times you can literally
hear the screech of millions of mosquitoes caught in those webs.
Spider experts say the web may have been constructed by social
cobweb spiders, which work together, or could be the result of a
mass dispersal in which the arachnids spin webs to spread out from
one another.
Ive been hearing from entomologists from Ohio, Kansas, British
Columbia all over the place, said Mike Quinn, an invertebrate
biologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department who first
posted photos online. Herbert A. Joe Pase, a Texas Forest Service
entomologist, said the massive web is very unusual. From what Im
hearing it could be a once-in-a-lifetime event, he said.But John
Jackman, a professor and extension entomologist for Texas A&M
University, said he hears reports of similar webs every couple of
years.There are a lot of folks that dont realize spiders do
that, said Jackman, author of A Field Guide to the Spiders and
Scorpions of Texas.
Until we get some samples sent to us, we really wont know what
species of spider were talking about, Jackman said. Garde invited
the entomologists out to the park to get a firsthand look at the
giant web. Somebody needs to come out thats an expert. I would
love to see some entomology intern come out and study this, she
said.Park rangers said they expect the web to last until fall, when
the spiders will start dying off.
