Arachnophobes look away – as scientists have discovered the biggest spider’s web in the world.
The web, which was found near the entrance of Sulfur Cave (a sulphuric cave ecosystem) on the Albania-Greece border, stretches across 106 square meters.
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A group of cavers from the Czech Speleological Society first discovered the web in 2022. Further analysis was carried out by an international team of scientists, with their findings published in the journal Subterranean Biology in October 2025.
They discovered that the web is actually made up of two species of spider: around 69,000 domestic house spiders (also known as the barn funnel weaver) and 42,000 Prinerigone vagans (a species of sheet weaver spider).
A web woven by multiple species of spider has never been documented before – and the barn funnel weaver would usually prey on smaller spiders like the sheet weaver spider, making the web particularly unusual.
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However, scientists believe that the lack of light and an abundant food supply of tiny midges in the cave has resulted in the spiders’ unique habitat.
Samples of the spiders also confirmed that their populations in Sulfur Cave were genetically distinct from other populations – suggesting that these had adapted to the environment.
Top image: a side view of the spider's web. Credit: Marek Audy, featured in Urák I et al. (2025) An extraordinary colonial spider community in Sulfur Cave (Albania/Greece) sustained by chemoautotrophy. Subterranean Biology 53: 155-177.
