Giant 1 km spider web covers Greek lake amid warm weather

ATHENS, Oct. 23  — Hundreds of thousands of spiders have covered a northeastern Greek lake in an enormous web that stretches about 1 km and blankets surrounding vegetation along the coast, media reported.
The spooky scene in Lake Vistonida is the masterpiece of stretch spiders, also known as Tetragnatha, as unseasonably warm weather provided ideal conditions for the spiders to feed, mate and reproduce, according to The Independent.
A rise in the mosquito population around the warm and humid lake also provided an abundant food source for the swarming spiders, the British online newspaper said.
It was not clear whether authorities would intervene to clear the web.
Experts have reassured locals that the spiders are not dangerous and would soon die off, with the web degenerating naturally.
The cobweb-covered lake, a natural decoration just in time for Halloween, is not the first time that spiders have gone on a rampage in the country.
A similar occurrence happened last month in western Greece when spiders spun a 300-meter long web on the side of a lagoon in the town of Aitoliko.
Town-engulfing spider webs have also been reported in Australia in May 2015 when residents of Goulburn in New South Wales awoke to find their town shrouded in eerie, silken webs, while millions of tiny spiders rained down from above. The event made headlines across the world then.
Scientists explained that the eye-popping event in Australia is a way certain types of arachnids migrate and poses no danger to people. – XINHUA