World's largest spider web discovered with 111,000 spiders

Researchers have discovered the world's largest spider web in a sulphur cave on the border of Greece and Albania, with 111,000 spiders living in the darkness.

Tegenaria domestica spider in Sulphur Cave - Photo: SUBTERRANEAN BIOLOGY

This giant spider web is located in the permanent darkness of the "Sulphur Cave", stretching 106m ² along the wall of the low, narrow entrance near the cave, according to LiveScience on November 4. The research team said it is a collection of thousands of individual funnel-shaped spider webs.

This is the first evidence of social behaviour in two common spider species, and could be the world's largest spider web, said lead researcher Istvan Urak, who works at the Hungarian Sapientia University of Transylvania in Romania.

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. Explorers from the Czech Speleological Association discovered the web in 2022.

The team's latest analysis shows that there are two species of spiders living in the Sulphur Cave spider population: Tegenaria domestica (also known as the funnel-weaver spider) and Prinerigone vagans .

Giant spider web in Sulphur Cave - Photo: SUBTERRANEAN BIOLOGY

Mr Urak's team estimated that there were about 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.

According to the research team, the Sulphur Cave spider colony is one of the largest ever recorded. Previously, scientists had not known these species to come together and cooperate in this way.

Tegenaria domestica and Prinerigone vagans are commonly found near human habitation, but this spider colony is "a unique case of two species coexisting in such large numbers in a web structure".

A sulfur-rich stream filled the cave with hydrogen sulfide and helped bacteria and mosquitoes survive, becoming food for the spiders.

Mr Urak said it was important to preserve the spider population, despite the challenges posed by the cave's location between two countries. The team is also looking into the origins of the Sulphur Cave's inhabitants.

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ANH THU

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/phat-hien-mang-nhen-lon-nhat-the-gioi-voi-111-000-con-20251105115218346.htm