Largest Spider Web
15 days ago
- #spiders
- #cave-ecosystem
- #sulfur-caves
- Scientists discovered the largest spider web ever recorded in a sulfur cave on the Albania-Greece border.
- The web spans over 1,040 square feet and houses about 111,000 spiders of the species Tegenaria domestica and Prinerigone vagans.
- This is the first documented case of these two spider species constructing webs together.
- Sulfur caves are extreme habitats, completely dark and filled with toxic hydrogen sulfide gas, supporting a unique food chain based on sulfur-oxidizing microbes.
- The spiders survive by feeding on tiny midges that depend on sulfur-oxidizing microbes.
- Genetic analysis suggests the cave-dwelling spiders are adapting to the underground environment and evolving colonial behavior due to genetic isolation and abundant food supply.
- The discovery highlights that nature still holds many surprises, according to study co-author Urák István.