World's Largest Spider Web Discovered

Scientists have made an amazing discovery in Sulfur Cave on the border between Albania and Greece. They found a massive spider web measuring 1,140 square feet - the largest spider web ever found.

The web is home to about 110,000 spiders. What makes this discovery special is that two different species of spiders are living together peacefully. There are 69,000 common house spiders and 42,000 smaller spiders called Prinerigone vagans.

This is very unusual. Normally, the bigger house spiders would eat the smaller spiders. But in this cave, they live side by side without fighting.

Dr. Lena Grinsted from the University of Portsmouth was very excited about the discovery. She said group living is really rare in spiders. She explained that spiders usually fight and eat each other when they are close together.

Scientists think the peaceful living happens because there is plenty of food. About 2.4 million midge flies live in the cave. This gives the spiders constant food, so they are less aggressive.

The cave is very dark and is located 50 meters from the entrance. It was carved by a river and is humid and sulfur-rich. Large bat colonies also live there and eat the flies.

Dr. Grinsted compared the spiders to humans living in apartment buildings. People share common areas like stairs and elevators, but they protect their private spaces.

The web is very dense and looks like a thick blanket. Female spiders can hide safely inside when there is danger.

Scientists also found something interesting about the DNA. The spiders living in the cave have different DNA from the same species living outside the cave.

Researchers published their findings last month. They first observed the giant web in 2021. This discovery could help scientists understand how different species can cooperate and live together.