In a sulphurous cave on the border between Greece and Albania, speleologists discovered a spider’s web with an area of 106 square meters. This has been recognized as the world’s largest known.
The web is not a continuous network, but an assembly of thousands of small braids, united in a unique structure. In the “blanket of patches”, scientists counted about 69,000 spiders of the species Tegenaria domestica and more than 42,000 of the species Prinerigone vagans.
The study confirmed for the first time the colonial behavior of the spiders of the two species. The specialists also discovered that in the cave Tegenaria domestica and Prinerigone vagans hunt midges that feed on microbial biofilms, reports Noi.mdreading .
Molecular analyzes have shown that cave spiders differ from their surface-dwelling relatives.
Their intestinal flora is less diverse, and genetic characteristics indicate adaptation to eternal darkness and sulphurous environment.
