Apparently not - interesting comment from someone who seems to know about spiders part way down the page:
"I love this! But there's a level of bullshit here (entomology nerd talking).
These spiders are not falling or ballooning. They are suspended in their webs. Spiders can only balloon after they have just hatched, when they are the size of the head of a pin. Adults cannot or do not do it. It happens all the time, but since the slings (nerd talk for "spiderlings") are so tiny we only notice their fine silk strands hanging on grasses and trees. In fact many comment on how beautiful the "angel hair" is.
Second, the spiders in the video and those in the stills are not the same genus, much less the same species. Those in the video appear to be Angulate, those in the stills are genus Nephila. Both are fairly large orb weavers, very shy and gentle and cute and harmless. If they're disturbed they run away or play dead.
Spiders "escaping floods" (in Australia?) somehow keeps popping up on these faux articles in order to justify some kind of frightening behavior. Spiders don't run from floods. They drown.
This is not spiders "falling" over Brazil but shots from two unrelated events where an unusual concentration of spiders created a "bloom" over an isolated area. Happens every once in awhile.
Here's me with a friendly Nephila. Enjoy!"
(, Sun 11 Mar 2018, 1:44, Share, Reply)
I've seen this in sunny Yorkshire
Next to a sewage works there was a 50 metre stretch of path where the trees, shrubs and fencing looked like it had been sprayed with the fake cobwebs used in horror films. On close(ish) inspection there were thousands of spiders - cool but creepy at the same time!
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tarka_dall Like normal dall, only a bit more spicy, Sun 11 Mar 2018, 9:11,
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