An entire town has been blanketed by a gooey layer of spider webs known locally as 'slime of the devil' that has even covered areas of water.

The blanket appeared after an army of spiders suddenly invaded the El Destino area, a collection of rural villages and hamlets which are some 10 miles from the city of Lezama in Argentina.

Locals say that the spiders came after recent heavy rains and they believe migrated into the town to escape flooding in the lower regions.

An entire town has been blanketed by a gooey layer of spider webs known locally as 'slime of the devil' that has even covered areas of water

The blanket appeared after an army of spiders suddenly invaded the El Destino area, a collection of rural villages and hamlets which are some 10 miles from the city of Lezama in Argentina

Locals say that the spiders came after recent heavy rains and they believe migrated into the town to escape flooding in the lower regions

Once there, they instantly started building webs adding to the threads already used by the spiders to parachute into the area

The spiders use the threads to fly on the breeze and can travel several kilometres to safe ground in the process known as ballooning

Once there, they instantly started building webs adding to the threads already used by the spiders to parachute into the area.

The spiders use the threads to fly on the breeze and can travel several kilometres to safe ground in the process known as ballooning.

Some images shot by locals and posted online shows thousands of spiders which they say wove a dense fabric on trees, poles and traffic signs.

The unusual sight is known as 'baba del diablo', which translates as 'slime of the devil'.

Their arrival is a direct result of the rising flow of the river in the area due to the heavy rainfall over the last weeks, which has affected around 20,000 people and caused the evacuation of about 2,000.

Local officials have said the spider webs are nothing to be worried about and that the spiders that made themselves are harmless.