**A 1,140-square-foot web packed with over 100,000 spiders has scientists rethinking how these famously solitary creatures behave.
Read this especially if you’re curious about evolution, animal behavior, or just love a wild nature story with an eerie twist.
📍 What Just Happened
Scientists discovered a giant spider web inside Sulfur Cave, straddling the Albania-Greece border. The web, thick as a blanket and stretching nearly the size of a small apartment, hosts around 110,000 spiders from two different species. Even more shocking, these spiders aren’t fighting. They’re coexisting peacefully, which is rare for species known to be aggressive and territorial.
🕷️ The Spiders and the Setup
The two species are the common house spider (Tegenaria domestica) and a smaller spider called Prinerigone vagans.
Normally, the larger species would prey on the smaller one, but here they’re living side by side in a massive colony.
The colony is located deep in a dark, sulfur-rich cave with no natural light.
The space is packed with midge flies, an estimated 2.4 million of them, providing constant food, which may help reduce aggression.
🔬 Why This Matters for Science
Group living in spiders is extremely rare. This colony shows it’s possible under the right conditions.
Researchers suggest the darkness and rich food supply reduce conflict and competition.
The spiders might be tolerating each other simply because they don’t have to fight for survival.
The DNA of the spiders shows that cave dwellers differ from the same species living outside, pointing to unique evolutionary changes.
🧠 What Scientists Think
Dr. Lena Grinsted compared the spider colony to people living in apartment buildings, you’ll share a hallway, but not your living room.
Other researchers say the web offers an ideal lab for studying cooperation, adaptation, and how animals behave under extreme environmental conditions.
The coexistence might not last forever. If conditions change, like food shortages, the peace could break down.
📌 The Bottom Line
This discovery challenges our assumptions about spiders and survival. It shows how even creatures seen as solitary and hostile can find balance when the environment supports it. It’s a story about adaptation, coexistence, and evolution, all taking place in the dark corner of a cave, under one of the weirdest and largest spider webs ever seen.
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