Spiderwebs Blanket Countryside After Australian Floods (Pictures)

Spiders Left High and Dry

Photograph by Lukas Coch, European Pressphoto Agency

Spiders spin thick webs as floods force them to move to higher ground in Wagga Wagga, Australia, on Tuesday.

The wet year may have has led to a boom in insects in this region of Australia—an abundant food source that's also likely inflated spider numbers, Matthews said.

(See pictures: "World's Biggest, Strongest Spider Webs Found.")

Published March 7, 2012

Field of Webs

Photograph by Daniel Munoz, Reuters

A woman walks her dogs through a field of spiderwebs in Wagga Wagga, Australia, on March 7—"quite a striking shot," Matthews said.

There may be hope in sight yet for human and beast alike. The Murrumbidgee River—source of most of the flooding in Wagga Wagga—is slowly receding after reaching 34 feet (11 meters) on March 6, according to Reuters.

(Also see "Biggest Floods in History—Does Mississippi Make the List?")

Published March 7, 2012

Blanketed

Photograph by Daniel Munoz, Reuters

Spiderwebs blanketing fields on March 6 "almost look like snow—it's so amazing," Matthews said.

The webs appear to be the work of sheet-web spiders and wolf spiders, two species not considered dangerous to people. It's late fall in Australia, when spiders are at their biggest and most plentiful following the bountiful summer, he said.

Overall, the pictures illustrate "the versatility of things [spiders] can do with silk," Matthews said.

Silk "has been a huge evolutionary breakthrough," he said, and "this is one more example of why spiders have been a successful group."

(See "Extreme Storms and Floods Concretely Linked to Climate Change?")

Published March 7, 2012

Spider Refugees

Photograph by Daniel Munoz, Reuters

Some Wagga Wagga residents have found the spiderwebs (pictured on March 7) a pleasant distraction after days of battling floods. "I have never seen spiderwebs like it," resident Janet Hume told the Telegraph.

(See more spiderweb pictures.)

Published March 7, 2012

Web Watcher

Photograph by Lukas Coch, European Pressphoto Agency

Spiderwebs billow in the wind in Wagga Wagga, Australia, on March 6. Now battling floods, eastern Australia only recently emerged from a decade-long drought and its worst bush fires in history.

(Also see "Dinosaur-Era Spiderweb Found in Amber.")

Published March 7, 2012

Surveying the Damage

Photograph by Andrew Meares, Pool/EPA

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard surveys flood-affected areas of Wagga Wagga from a helicopter on March 7.

The floods in eastern Australia, considered the worst in 160 years, could continue for more than a month, according to the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.

(See "Photos: Unprecedented, 'Biblical' Floods Inundate Australia" [2011].)

Published March 7, 2012

Next: Pictures of Web-Wrapped Trees After Pakistan Floods >>

Photograph courtesy Russell Watkins, U.K. Department for International Development

Published March 7, 2012