Weird Encounters
The sky was full of spiders — and the video is real
A teenager traveling through rural Minas Gerais filmed what looked like hundreds of spiders hanging in midair. They were not falling from the sky — they were suspended on an enormous communal web almost too fine to see.
Video: Guardian News. Embedded from the original YouTube source.
The mechanism
Why this happens
During hot, humid conditions, Parawixia bistriata can gather in large groups and build broad webs between vegetation to catch flying insects. The silk can be so fine that the spiders appear to be floating in open sky.
Season & place
Where this event happens
Espírito Santo do Dourado, Minas Gerais, Brazil · Communal spider web. Timing and local conditions can vary from one occurrence to the next, so current local guidance matters when planning around a recurring event.
At first glance, the video looks impossible. Black dots fill the sky above a rural road in southeastern Brazil, and as the camera gets closer the dots resolve into spiders — hundreds of them apparently suspended in open air.
João Pedro Martinelli Fonseca recorded the scene while traveling with his family to his grandparents' property in Espírito Santo do Dourado, Minas Gerais, in early January 2019. Contemporary local reporting identified him as the filmer, and the same footage was later cited by international outlets as the source of the viral 'raining spiders' story.
The spiders were not falling. Arachnology professor Adalberto dos Santos of the Federal University of Minas Gerais explained that Parawixia bistriata can build a huge web ceiling between trees and shrubs. The silk is extremely difficult to see from a distance, leaving the spiders looking as if they are simply hanging in the sky.
The spectacle is a hunting strategy rather than an invasion of homes or an unusual weather event. The spiders emerge in groups when conditions are favorable, spread across the web to capture insects, and later retreat back into vegetation. It is exactly the kind of real animal event that looks fabricated until the biology catches up with what the camera shows.
What to know
- The spiders are not literally raining from the sky; they are hanging on an enormous web that is difficult to see.
- The 2019 footage was recorded by João Pedro Martinelli Fonseca while visiting his grandparents in rural Minas Gerais.
- Arachnologist Adalberto dos Santos of the Federal University of Minas Gerais identified the phenomenon with Parawixia bistriata and said the species is not considered dangerous to people.
- The behavior is associated with warm, humid evenings when flying insects are abundant.
If you go
Watch without becoming part of the problem.
Follow local closures and wildlife guidance, keep a responsible distance, avoid blocking migration or access routes, and do not disturb roosts, nesting areas, dens, or concentrated animals for a photo. Conditions and access rules can change quickly.
Good questions
What people usually want to know
Does it really rain spiders in Brazil?
Not in the literal sense. In the best-known Minas Gerais videos, large numbers of spiders are suspended on extremely fine communal webs, creating the illusion that they are floating or falling from the sky.
What kind of spiders make the spider-rain effect in Brazil?
Experts examining the 2019 Minas Gerais event identified the spiders as Parawixia bistriata, a group-living orb-weaver found in South America.
Are Brazil's raining spiders dangerous to people?
The arachnologist consulted about the 2019 event said the species' venom is not considered harmful to humans and described its bite as causing relatively minor discomfort.