08.02.2025 11:30
In the town of Sao Thome das Letras in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, frightening moments were captured on camera as hundreds of spiders rained down from the sky. This situation attracted significant attention on social media. Biologists stated that this phenomenon is part of the spiders' mating ritual. It was noted that female spiders store sperm from different males to increase genetic diversity.
In the city of Sao Thome das Letras, located in the Minas Gerais state of Brazil, frightening moments were captured on camera as hundreds of spiders appeared to be "raining" from the sky.
On December 28, images shared on social media, which looked as if they were taken from a horror movie, both frightened and astonished viewers. One social media user commented, "Spider paradise!" while another user, who had witnessed a similar event before, said, "It happened in my brother's backyard in Tiradentes. It always occurred in the late afternoon. I was very scared the first time I saw it."
The incident, which was reported in the local press on January 24, caught the attention of biologists. Expert biologist Kayron Passos made the following statement regarding the countless spiders floating in the air: "This is a spider mating ritual. Female spiders have an organ called spermatheca, which allows them to store sperm from different males to fertilize their eggs. This way, the female spider can obtain different offspring, increasing genetic diversity."
Passos also noted that female spiders continue to collect sperm for future use even after their eggs are fertilized, and this behavior increases resistance to diseases in the offspring.
Spider scientist Ana Lucia Tourinho, who works at the National Institute for Amazon Research and holds a PhD in Biological Sciences, also commented on the issue: "Spiders generally do not live together, but some species exhibit this social behavior by forming colonies. The strategy of staying in groups increases food supply for the offspring and young spiders."
Experts emphasized that the spiders in the footage were performing a collective mating ritual on a giant web, and that this is a natural occurrence.