Stunned by the world's largest spider web inside the sulfur cave

The world's largest spider web with an incredible density is located in a toxic sulfur cave between Greece and Albania, leaving scientists amazed.

Researchers have discovered more than 111,000 spiders living in a pitch-black sulfur cave on the border of Greece and Albania. It is believed to be the world's largest spider web. Photo: Urak et al. 2025, Subterranean Biology (CC BY 4.0).

The giant spider web, located in the perpetual darkness of the sulfur cave, stretches 106 square meters along the walls of a narrow, low-ceilinged passage near the cave’s entrance, according to a study published on October 17 in the journal Subterranean Biology. The web is made up of thousands of individual funnel-shaped webs, the researchers said. Photo: Urak et al. 2025, Subterranean Biology (CC BY 4.0).

This is the first evidence of social behavior in two common spider species and could be the world's largest web, said lead author Istvan Urak, associate professor of biology at the Hungarian Sapientia University of Transylvania in Romania. Image: Urak et al. 2025, Subterranean Biology (CC BY 4.0).

This superweb is located in the Sulphur Cave, a cave formed by the erosion of rock by sulfuric acid, which is produced by the oxidation of hydrogen sulfide in groundwater. The web was discovered in 2022 by speleologists from the Czech Speleological Association during an expedition in the Vromoner Gorge. Photo: Urak et al. 2025, Subterranean Biology (CC BY 4.0).

A team of scientists then visited the Sulphur Cave in 2024, collecting samples from the spider webs, which Associate Professor Urák analyzed before making his own expedition to the cave. Photo: Subterranean Biology.

The team's new analysis reveals two species of spiders living in the Sulphur Cave spider community: Tegenaria domestica (also known as the funnel-weaver) and Prinerigone vagans. Photo: Urak et al. 2025, Subterranean Biology (CC BY 4.0).

Upon arriving at the Sulphur Cave, Urak’s team estimated that there were approximately 69,000 Tegenaria domestica and more than 42,000 Prinerigone vagans living in the superweb. DNA analysis also confirmed that these were the dominant species in the population. Photo: Subterranean Biology.

The Sulphur Cave spider colony is one of the largest ever recorded. Scientists have never before known that spiders could come together and cooperate in this way. Photo: Subterranean Biology.

According to the research team, Tegenaria domestica and Prinerigone vagans are widely distributed near human habitats. However, this spider colony is "a unique case of two species coexisting in such large numbers in a single web structure." Photo: Pokraky/iStockphoto.

Experts say a sulfur-rich stream filled the cave with hydrogen sulfide, which helped bacteria and mosquitoes survive, making it a food source for the spiders. Photo: Urak et al. 2025, Subterranean Biology (CC BY 4.0).

Readers are invited to watch the video : Discovering many new species in the Mekong River Region. Source: THĐT1.

Source: https://khoahocdoisong.vn/choang-vang-truoc-mang-nhen-lon-nhat-the-gioi-ben-trong-hang-dong-luu-huynh-post2149066611.html