Uh Oh! Giant Spiderwebs Found in Dallas

Giant spiders may be taking over Dallas. However, residents have no reason to fear, since the web-spinning creatures are not known to be dangerous to humans.

AgriLife Today reported that a giant spiderweb was discovered by Mike Merchant, a Texas A&MAgriLife Extension Serviceentomologist in Rowlett, a Dallas suburb. The spiderweb was so huge that it actually covered trees. There have been sightings of other similar webs in Texas on previous dates.

"CA Roan Drive is a quiet stretch of road running through Lakeside Park South in the Dallas suburb of Rowlett. But in the trees along a football field-length stretch of the drive, the spiders have been taking over,” Merchant said.

"Someone stepping off the road for a closer look will see thousands of lanky spiders darting among the webs that extend up to 40 feet into the trees," he said. "There is a surreal quality to the extensive webbing covering these trees."

Merchant described the webs as “glistening” and “draping the trees like shrouds” at Lakeside Park, close to Lake Ray Hubbard. He said that although these are rare, people may spot some at times.

Merchant added that the discovery of the web was more than creepy. It was a surprising revelation to several arachnologists that spiders can work together to create a huge web. There were reports about a giant spiderweb at Lake Tawakoni State Park, located about 35 miles from Rowlett.The giant web was also made by several spiders identified as Tetragnathaguatemalensis. The species can build communal nests in the right conditions where small insects would emerge at night from lakes to serve as spider food. However, it is rare to find such activity in the United States.

These types of spiders are also not aggressive to other spiders of the same species on the same web. These are not known to be harmful to humans and are not expected to bite. Because of the lack of threat the spiders pose, Merchant said that there is no need to eliminate these or control their number.

Arachnologists, or spider experts, actually find the web works beautiful. Merchant advised people driving along CA Roan Drive in Rowlett to take time to appreciate the natural beauty, but discouraged them from touching or destroying the web.

More news and details about Dallas’ giant webs and community of arachnids are expected in the coming weeks.