A sulfur-rich cave near the border between Greece and Albania has revealed the world’s largest spider web, Live Science reported.
According to specialists, the massive underground colony covers an area of more than 100 square meters and is considered the largest spider web ever recorded. Inside the cave, it is dark and narrow, with a river rich in sulfides flowing at the bottom. Some parts of the web have collapsed due to the weight of the silk and the spiders themselves.
Interestingly, this giant web was not created by a single species but by thousands of spiders belonging to different species that together built an underground “fortress.” The main population belongs to the species Tegenaria domestica, numbering over 69,000 individuals. These spiders typically live close to human dwellings.
The colony also includes around 42,000 spiders of the Prinerigone vagans species. Their ability to coexist peacefully with T. domestica in a dim environment is considered a unique phenomenon.
In total, the web hosts about 110,000 spiders. As prey, small insects — mainly Tanytarsus albisutus chironomids — have been found, numbering more than 2.4 million.
Scientists note that this giant web formed within an underground ecosystem untouched by sunlight and is regarded as one of the most unique biological communities found in nature.
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