Largest spider web ever found the size of half a tennis court
You don't need a phobia for these pictures to cause severe nightmares.
If you suffer from Arachnophobia (fear of spiders), then we highly recommend that you do not read any further.
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If you do not have a fear of spiders, you might after seeing this scientific discovery.
Or you might even feel as if tiny little spiders are running all over you right now.
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They say relaxation therapies and breathing techniques can help people conquer phobias, but you need a lot more than that if you ever find yourself in this cave on the Albania-Greece border.
Researchers have discovered the largest known spider's web.
It's called an arachnid "megacity", which is instantly fear-inducing.
Although it may be terrifying, it is also fascinating.
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The team that made this discovery says that there are well over 100,000 spiders from two different species coexisting in this underground "city".
Explorers first discovered this giant web during a wildlife survey in 2022 and reported it to researchers, who then began making multiple trips to the cave to study this extraordinary find.
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The researchers tested DNA samples to confirm the identities of the spiders in the web and found two species, known to be solitary.
These spiders, which don't usually share webs, have decided to join forces and create a web spanning 100 square metres.
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This is equal to: 20 king-size beds, four bowling lanes or a racing yacht.
Have a look below... if you dare:
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The colony is home to around 69,000 domestic house spiders, also known as the barn funnel weaver or Tegenaria domestica, and 42,000 Prinerigone vagans, a species of sheet weaver spider.
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The Independent reports that social spiders are known for creating communal webs with thousands of spiders, while finding a giant web structure like this inhabited by an otherwise solitary species is rare.
Never before had researchers documented a cooperative web woven by individuals belonging to multiple different species.
These are both surface species that have never been reported to form colonies and molecular evidence suggests the Sulfur Cave population doesn’t exchange individuals with the surface.
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The researchers studied how the arachnids survive in the harsh cave conditions, without sunlight and high levels of toxic hydrogen sulfide gas (the rotten egg-smelling gas).
They found that microbes within the cave system are consumed by tiny midges, which then become trapped in the giant web and provide an abundant food source for the spiders.
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DNA analysis also revealed that the spiders within the cave have distinct differences from their relatives outside the cave, suggesting they have adapted to the cave's unique environment.
Scientists also suspect that the lack of light enables the much smaller P vagans to live among the barn funnel spiders.
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Image: Subterranean Biology