US EditionResearchers Discover Enormous ‘Spider Megacity’ Spanning 100 Square Meters in Balkan Sulphur Cave
- On Oct. 17, a study published in Subterranean Biology reported more than 111,000 spiders share a single interconnected web spanning about 1,140 square feet inside Sulfur Cave on the Albania–Greece border.
- The cave's chemoautotrophic ecosystem relies on a sulfur stream feeding sulfur-oxidizing bacteria that form white microbial biofilms on cave walls, which non-biting midges consume, sustaining the spiders as apex consumers in the cave food chain.
- Researchers identified the residents as roughly 69,000 Tegenaria domestica and 42,000 Prinerigone vagans, with DNA, microbiome and isotope analyses showing genetic distinctions and adaptations to the cave environment.
- The team urged protection for the colony, noting this is the first documented colonial web formation in the two species and the cave straddles two countries.
- Cavers with the Czech Speleological Society first spotted the web in 2022, prompting 2024 scientific visits and ongoing research; István Urák said, `The natural world still holds countless surprises for us.
128 Articles
128 Articles
World’s largest spider web found underground
Scientists have uncovered what is believed to be the largest spider web ever recorded, deep inside a cave on the Greece–Albania border. Found in the so‑called Sulfur Cave, the structure spans approximately 106 square metres (about 1,140 square feet) and harbours an estimated 111,000 arachnids. This remarkable discovery has stunned arachnologists and biologists alike, as it represents a scale and… Source
More than 111,000 spiders have been discovered in the cave, and the spider web covers an area of 106 square meters.
A group of scientists from the Czech Speleological Society have found in a cave on the border between Greece and Albania the largest spider web ever recorded: it is 97 m2 and they estimate that it is home, as if it were a city, to 111,000 spiders. As Scientific American magazine says, one of the curiosities is that the spider web is the work of two distinct species of spider, the Tegenaria domestica and Prinerigone vagans.This is the first docum…
Video - A team of scientists discovered in this cave known as "Sulfur Cave", a canvas occupied by more than 111,000 spiders.
In a cave on the border between Greece and Albania, researchers made a "world-wide unique" discovery: 110,000 spiders had spun a 100-square-metre net.
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Scientists discover world’s largest spider web
Researchers found the colossal web hosting a megacity of around 111,000 spiders located on the border between Albania and Greece.
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