Trees cocooned in spiders webs, an unexpected side effect of the flooding in Sindh, Pakistan
An unexpected side-effect of the flooding in parts of Pakistan was that millions of spiders climbed up into the trees to escape the rising flood waters.
Because of the scale of the flooding and the fact that the water took so long to recede, many trees became cocooned in spiders webs. People in this part of Sindh had never seen this phenomenon before - but they also reported that there were less mosquitos than they would expect, given the amount of stagnant, standing water that was around.
One theory is that mosquitos may have been caught in the spiders webs, which would be one blessing for the people of Sindh, facing so many other hardships after the floods.
UK aid - in response to the Pakistan floods - helped millions of survivors return home and rebuild their lives.
Find out more about the UK government's response to the Pakistan floods at www.dfid.gov.uk/pakistan-floods-six-months
Picture: Russell Watkins/Department for International Development
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Comments and faves
heartbeeps, tuesday blouse, helen-butler, Lolakolacakes, and 541 other people added this photo to their favorites.
heartbeeps (26 months ago | reply)
AWESOME! Saw this in The Guardian's G2 section this morning, and posted it on my blog. I'm pretty sure that's where New Scientist picked it up. This photo had 65 views at the time.
Lolakolacakes (26 months ago | reply)
as above! amazing image :)
ystenes (26 months ago | reply)
Wow!
Very interesting information, too!
faved and galleried
guihsd (26 months ago | reply)
muito interessante !
ángeles_gm (26 months ago | reply)
awesome!!
anadelagua (26 months ago | reply)
Ahhhhhg...Curioso,muy curioso.
Daniel Rocal (26 months ago | reply)
Very interesting, useful, and creepy.
alassie85 (26 months ago | reply)
:O
isamoa (26 months ago | reply)
Extraño!
[-A-A-] (26 months ago | reply)
this is amazing!
no*dice (26 months ago | reply)
nasty!
SrJoSeZ (26 months ago | reply)
O_O
roxana_arc1 (26 months ago | reply)
love it! is so surreal
:: José Ramón :: [deleted] (26 months ago | reply)
Impresionante !!!
digital-showdown (26 months ago | reply)
This is pretty amazing.
johanscm50 (26 months ago | reply)
que bueno!!! :D
Cor & Asociados (26 months ago | reply)
awesome!!!
jhccheng (26 months ago | reply)
incredible.
{Nelly Rodriguez} (26 months ago | reply)
scary looking! great photo and info.
David Alviz (26 months ago | reply)
Impressive... nice shot!
L5LiNks (26 months ago | reply)
amazing!
Furhan H! (26 months ago | reply)
Kind of like cotton candy made out of fungi.
sashatlhs (26 months ago | reply)
reminds me of that scene from the first Shrek
land_camera_land_camera (26 months ago | reply)
it looks more like it was caused by web worms. www.google.com/images?hl=en&client=firefo x-a&rls=...
umer_2 (26 months ago | reply)
Blessing in Disguies
baccarita (26 months ago | reply)
Kind of scary... but amazing capture :)
cashewnut10 (26 months ago | reply)
wow this is so interesting...
generalhafeezah (26 months ago | reply)
has anyone thought of GOD Yet? How many signs of warning do we need? Birds Falling from the skies all over the world, various species of fish popping up dead along the shore, wars and rumors of wars around the earth, Earthquakes, tsunamis and hurricanes. And yet we still spend time, watching Jerry Springer and wrap out heads around drinking and getting highas a past time. Boy! we are in trouble!
jess.wistoft (26 months ago | reply)
That's just fascinating. And beautiful.
my heart is phosphor (26 months ago | reply)
IncreÍBle
homeman (26 months ago | reply)
Wicked!
skylcort (26 months ago | reply)
Similar thing happened in Texas. There was a huge surge in insects and the spiders suddenly started cooperating.
bovinemagnet (26 months ago | reply)
very interesting.
zebarnabe (26 months ago | reply)
looks surreal ... :] nice grab and thanks for sharing
Boogiethemann (26 months ago | reply)
I wonder if my son would climb that tree
lalie sorbet (26 months ago | reply)
Fantastic !!!
Chenchuan (26 months ago | reply)
that is great i can use flickr in China now ，i love my country
Chenchuan (26 months ago | reply)
something not so good may happened in 2012,
mybe should go to tibet,china to survive
DerrickT (26 months ago | reply)
!!!!!!!!!!!
Omar_Gurnah (26 months ago | reply)
Incredible!!!
Peter Tikhomirov (26 months ago | reply)
This is unbelievable. I wanna be there! I wanna see it
Rey Cuba (26 months ago | reply)
this is not only a wonderful story, but a great photo
guiltypleasure13 (26 months ago | reply)
ewww. nice and interesting, but still, EEWWW
powkang (26 months ago | reply)
i'm so disgusted and fascinated.
This photo was invited and added to the Photography is LIFE group.
maruxa fotografía (26 months ago | reply)
Impresionanta foto e historia
Dvemp (26 months ago | reply)
"i'm so disgusted and fascinated."
+1
fuzzylogic55 (26 months ago | reply)
surreale...
Jose Joao Silva (26 months ago | reply)
+++++
copialibre (26 months ago | reply)
la naturaleeza enseñando de nuevo............
cevebe (26 months ago | reply)
Very cool shot, but is it really caused by spiders?
I have seen this phenomenon in Sweden a couple of times and then it was caused by the Bird-cherry Ermine, which is a small moth.