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.
113 Articles
113 Articles
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.
ABC FOX Montana
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.
A gigantic spider's web was discovered on the border between Greece and Albania. Look at this report from TF1's JT. - More than 100,000 spiders woven it: the images of the giant canvas discovered in a cave (International).
The cave is located on the border of Greece and Albania, is full of mosquitoes and always too dark – best conditions for thousands of spiders who have stretched a huge net system there.
Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF)
MoneycabOver 111,000 spiders in a single web complex – why two species in huge numbers can survive in a cave.
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