"While exploring a sulfur cave on the Albania-Greece border, scientists at the Czech Speleological Society discovered the largest spider web ever recorded. The vast megacity, spanning more than 1,040 square feet nearly half the size of a tennis courtis home to about 111,000 spiders of the species Tegenaria domestica and Prinerigone vagans, according to a study by a separate group of researchers. This is the first documented case of either of these two species constructing webs together, the study's authors reported recently in Subterranean Biology."
"A caver looks at the massive colonial spider web. Sulfur caves are among the most extreme habitats on Earth. They are completely dark and filled with hydrogen sulfide gas, which is toxic to most life-forms. Inside, species' survival depends on chemical reactions powered by microbes that oxidize sulfur. These microorganisms are the base of a unique food chain that supports a community of cave-dwelling organisms."
Scientists discovered a spider megacity in a sulfur cave on the Albania–Greece border, with a web spanning more than 1,040 square feet and housing about 111,000 spiders of Tegenaria domestica and Prinerigone vagans. The two species constructed the communal web together, marking the first documented case of either species building webs jointly. The sulfur cave is dark and filled with hydrogen sulfide; life there depends on microbes that oxidize sulfur. Chemical analysis of spider tissues showed the arachnids feed on tiny midges hatched from cave pools, and those midges rely on sulfur-oxidizing microbes as their primary food source.
Read at www.scientificamerican.com
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