Thousands of swarming spiders carpet Arkansas highway with thick webs in a 'mating party'

An Arkansas man captured the terrifying scene of thousands of spiders swarming alongside a highway.

Zach Riggs, of Jonesboro, Arkansas, was driving along Highway 230, near Bono, Arkansas, when he came across the nightmare situation, the Daily Mail reports, citing Fox News.  

Riggs stopped and, naturally, took video and photos which he then shared on Facebook on November 6 with the caption, “Anybody need some spiders?'”

In the video, Riggs gives viewers and up close and personal look at the spiders covering a highway construction barricade. At first glance, the plastic sawhorse looks like it's covered in dirt. 

But upon closer inspection, it's clear that it is actually an astonishing number of arachnids jumbled on top of each other. 

Riggs can be seen bravely holding out his hand near the spiders, which waste no time crawling over his palm.  

The series of photos that Riggs posted reveal that thick, white spiderwebs cover the grass on the side of the road, brushes, metal road signs and even spindly trees. 

It's believed that the spiders seen in the now-viral video and photos are Tetragnatha spiders. The so-called 'stretch spiders' have long bodies and are common in tropical climates.     

AccuWeather stated that the area near Bono has been very moist due to recent storms and that some spider species are attracted to those conditions.

This isn't the first time that such a frightening scene has caught the eye of a passerby, however. 

In September, a man in Aitoliko, Greece, shared similar images online, showing a nearly 1,000-foot spiderweb blanketing a local beach which was determined to be a kind of 'mating party'. 

Democritus University of Thrace biology professor Maria Chatzaki said that 'It's as if the spiders are taking advantage of these conditions and are having a kind of a party,' according to a translation by the BBC. 'They mate, they reproduce and provide a whole new generation.'

After mating beneath the webs, Chatzaki said, the spiders would then die.

Tetragnatha spiders are not deemed dangerous for people and don't cause any damage to nearby flora.