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3h ago

BBC Breakfast Airs Footage of Giant Cave Spider Web as Presenters Tell Viewers to 'Look Away'

Researchers say the roughly half–tennis-court web shelters about 100,000 spiders from two species cohabiting in a sulfur-rich border cave, a phenomenon rarely seen in arachnids.

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Overview

  • The segment ran during the programme’s 6am broadcast on BBC One and iPlayer with Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty introducing the clip.
  • Stayt warned viewers to look away before video showed an expansive, sheet-like web inside the pitch-black cave.
  • Reports cite estimates of about 69,000 spiders of one species and 42,000 of another sharing the structure without predation.
  • The colony is located in a sulfur-laden cave on the Greek–Albanian border, according to accounts of the study.
  • Evolutionary biologist Lena Grinsted told the Associated Press that group living among spiders is extremely rare as social media reactions ranged from admiration to alarm.