Spiders ‘rain’ in awesome, but kinda unsettling event

By Johnny Lieu From Mashable

Rain is already annoying enough when it’s not seemingly made of spiders.

So spare a thought for the people who had to keep an eye on a group of arachnids that appeared to be raining down over rural Brazil, thanks to hot and humid weather.

João Pedro Martinelli Fonseca, who filmed a video of the event, told a local paper Terro Do Mandu (as per a translation from The Guardian) that he was travelling to his grandparents’ farm north east of São Paulo, when he noticed black dots in the sky.

Fonseca said he was “stunned and scared,” in particular when a spider fell through the window, and well, fair enough.

Turns out, though, it’s more of an illusion. The species, parawixia bistriata, is a rare social spider which builds webs so fine that they are near impossible to see with the human eye.

Adalberto dos Santos, a biology professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, told the newspaper that the spiders nest in a ball in the vegetation during the day, then come out at night to build a huge web connected to bushes and trees.

The web can measure up to four metres wide and three metres (4.37 yards and 3.28 yards) thick.

There’s nothing to worry about, however: The venom of these spiders are harmless, and the web actually helps to keep flies and mosquitoes in check, as they feast on them at dawn.

For more on this story and video go to: https://mashable.com/article/spider-rain-brazil-web/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29