Spiders

I found all these really cool pictures of spiderweb encased trees in Pakistan. I guess that there's been so much flooding there that the spiders which normally live on the ground have escaped to the trees to survive so nearly all vegetation is crawling with them. I think I'd be really creeped out if I saw trees that looked like this in my neighborhood.

Additionally, I came across this article that talked about spider silk and how it's actually stronger than kevlar and way more flexible. It took the silk harvested from a million golden orb spiders in order to make this tapestry but it looks beautiful.

A close-up of the detail on the tapestry.



One of the workers making the silk



These are the orb spiders that produce the cloth.

Finally, this is a picture of a new kind of orb spider discovered in Madagascar. It has a diameter of five to six-inches. I would hate to be walking in the dark and accidentally step into this web.

I can see why spiders are so popular as monsters. J.R. Tolkien used them for Ungoliante and his broodlings. Stephen King used one for his monster in IT. Do you use spiders in your writing?