Scientists Discover World’s Largest Spider Web Housing 110,000 Spiders in Underwater Cave

Researchers have found what may be the world’s largest spider web in an underwater cave on the Greece-Albania border. The massive web covers 1,076.4 square feet along Sulfur Cave’s wall and houses approximately 110,000 spiders from two species. The colony includes around 69,000 Tegenaria domestica spiders and 42,000 Prinerigone vagans spiders. Czech Speleological Society cavers first discovered the web in 2022. Researcher István Urák from Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania analyzed it in 2024. “It is a unique case of two species cohabiting within the same web structure in this huge number,” Urák said. Scientists say this marks the first documented colonial web formation for these species. The cave contains 512 other species from 20 families, providing abundant resources for the spider colony. (Story URL)