According to a video uploaded to YouTube on Feb. 7, spiders
appear have taken to dangling from the city's electric lines and other
surfaces in Santo Antônio da Platina, Brazil.
These seem
to be fairly large critters, too, plainly visible when the camera is
zoomed all the way out, with a rough approximation of size given by
nearby transformers on the electric poles.
It isn't immediately
clear why these spiders are congregating in such a manner, but it's
worth noting several species of arachnid cooperate in colonies and weave
(ahem) fairly extensive social networks.
Leticia Avilés, an
arachnid expert at the University of British Columbia in Canada,
previously told New Scientist that of the estimated 39,000 known species
of spider, only 20 or so have been documented to cooperate.
Anelosimus
Eximius, one such species of "communal" spider, inhabits tropical
environments throughout South
America. Scientists have determined that
social spiders work in teams to catch much larger prey than otherwise
possible.
Watch the Video below:
Social Plugin