In Rowlett, Texas, a Dallas suburb, thousands of spiders are coming together to weave 40-ft-tall webs that look terrifying. The webs are tall enough to cover trees and look like coming straight from a horror movie.
Visitors driving along a tree-lined stretch of road in the Dallas suburb, called CA Roan Drive, would be shocked to notice giant spider webs. Mike Merchant, a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service entomologist, explains that these webs can extend up to 40 feet and are not built by giant spiders but rather created by thousands of spiders who came together in a communal effort.
This strange phenomenon is rare, however, is not without precedent. In Lake Tawakoni State Park, in the year 2007, more than 3,300 curious visitors flocked to see a giant spider web, according to Park Superintendent Donna Garde. Lake Tawakoni State Park is located in the same region, at only around 35 miles from Rowlett. Garde described the sight of the giant spider web as "something out of a low-budget horror movie." However, according to the State Park Superintendent, the spider web at Lake Tawakoni was "five times as big as what you'd see on a Hollywood set."
The giant spider webs on the shores of Lake Tawakoni made already a big buzz in the international arachnology community. Many scientists came to see them since this might be a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon. As Mr. Merchant explains in an interview for AgriLife Today, the discovery of the web was a revelation to many arachnologists at the time because spiders are not social and usually work alone to build their webs. Finding spiders in a 'communal' setting, working together to build a huge web, "was a real surprise for many experts," according to Mr. Merchant.
Some scientists believe that the identity of the species of spiders at Rowlett is Tetragnatha guatemalensis. This spider species had been known previously to build communal nests under certain conditions, however, this is a rare occurrence the U.S., according to Mike Quinn, a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department biologist. Tetragnatha guatemalensis, a spider that can reach an inch long, can be found in areas ranging from Canada to Panama. The spider has a red-orange head and thorax.
It is yet to be determined if the exact identity of the spiders in Rowlett belongs to the Tetragnathidae family. Fortunately for the residents in the area, these spiders are known to be harmless to humans.
