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IT'S every arachnophobe's worst nightmare: millions of spiders on the move, blanketing everything in cobwebs.



The Gippsland flooding has triggered a spider population explosion of up to 30 species, which have taken to the air in the search for new homes.



Australia's leading "spider man", the senior curator of spiders at Queensland Museum, Robert Raven, said the phenomenon was triggered by recent heavy rain, after the drought had postponed hatchings.



"It's amazing stuff that is always a moisture-triggered event, and I would love to be down there to see it directly,'' he said.



Arachnids from up to five families, including money spiders, wolf spiders, water spiders, crab spiders and orb-weaving spiders are in a spin, producing silk, which catches the breeze and lifts them into the air.

"They are remarkable animals and they can get up into the stratosphere higher than planes,'' Dr Raven said.



But when the air gets heavy, the web drops and they fall to the ground, covering everything in sight.



After Age photographer Joe Armao stopped to photograph the shimmering gossamer of webs at Seaspray, near Sale, last week, he returned to find his car draped in webs, along with hundreds of culprits.



Said Dr Raven: "The thing is, if they all stayed at the same spot, there would be no food and they would eat each other.



"After floods you'll also get things like scorpions and centipedes that will float on the water and then get into houses because they are high and dry.''



Gippsland pest controller Peter MacManus said he had noticed that fences in the area were covered in cobwebs.



Locals were reaching for insect spray rather than calling for professional help to keep them at bay, he said.



"I have heard that some people were inundated with spiders after the floods, but in my business, you don't spray houses in the winter time,'' he said.



The spiders are not the only creatures seeking shelter in houses.

Mr MacManus said one Licola resident returned home to find that six snakes had taken up residence inside.