Floods in Argentina have brought an unusual phenomenon to rural areas as blankets of spiders have wrapped themselves around the landscape in sprawling, dense webs.
Although they might look like floating clouds or wisps of smoke from afar, the nets are in fact crawling with millions of spiders.
The unusual sight is known as “baba del diablo”, which translates as “slime of the devil”.
According to local news outlet Día a Día it appeared in a number of rural villages and hamlets which were hit with heavy flooding last week.
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Whilst the dense webs might be any arachnophobe’s worst nightmare, others have welcomed the influx of insects.
People have taken to social media to share their shots of the beautiful patterns they have found.
La #BabaDelDiablo será una señal de que #Independiente se acerca a la punta? pic.twitter.com/wBc5dTTpGj
— Eduardo Salim Sad.'. (@SalimSad) August 18, 2015
Vieron la cantidad de arañas en Argentina?... que miedo! Tela baba del diablo pic.twitter.com/XEq3c5iMdB
— Mamá Paola ♥ (@pgutierrez_z) August 20, 2015
Although the webs are light and thinly spread, they contain millions of insects. The webs are waterlogged (hence the reference to slime in their name) causing the spiders to constantly wriggle in a bid to keep above the water and avoid drowning.
The only way for spiders to escape drowning is for a passing wind to lift them out of the baba del diablo and leave them back on dry land.
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