Overview
- The multilayered silk complex spans about 106 square meters along Sulfur Cave’s walls near its entrance on the Albania–Greece border.
- Researchers estimate roughly 69,000 Tegenaria domestica and more than 42,000 Prinerigone vagans occupy thousands of interconnected funnel webs.
- Stable-isotope analyses indicate the colony feeds on non-biting midges that graze sulfur-oxidizing microbial biofilms, showing a food web independent of sunlight.
- Genetic and microbiome data reveal the cave population is distinct from surface relatives and has less diverse gut communities, consistent with isolation and adaptation.
- The peer-reviewed study in Subterranean Biology reports the first documented colonial web formation for these species, with follow-up surveys and proposed protection of the site.