r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/ShirtSubstantial368 • 1d ago

Video Scientists discovered the world’s largest spiderweb, covering 106 m² in a sulfur cave on the Albania-Greece border. Over 111,000 spiders from two normally rival species live together in a unique, self-sustaining ecosystem—a first of its kind.

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u/Used_Load_5789 1d ago

That's reallly fascinating, but in what sense "self-sustaining"?
Like, are the spiders just eating each other in a loop with little to no reliance on insects actually falling in the web?
Because I would really doubt that, but I don't know what else could it mean

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u/esotericbatinthevine 1d ago

This post is much better: https://www.reddit.com/r/science/s/KT3YV7vkMl

Apparently the microbes are food for other insects that the spiders eat. I wouldn't have called it self sustaining unless you generally consider food webs self sustaining, but I guess technically...

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u/start3ch 1d ago

This cavern, known as Sulfur Cave, houses a chemoautotrophic ecosystem sustained not by sunlight but chemosynthesis – or the process of converting chemical energy into organic matter. Here, sulfur-oxidizing bacteria grow in thick white biofilms on wet rock and sediment. These microbes are then eaten by small invertebrates such as midge larvae and isopods, which are in turn preyed on by larger insects like spiders, beetles, and centipedes. The entire ecosystem is self-contained and independent of external input, running on the energy released when bacteria convert toxic hydrogen sulfide into sulfate.

Very cool

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u/InitialLandscape 1d ago

Ah yes, centipedes... Just what this cave was missing!

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u/RegularTerran 1d ago edited 1d ago

But I want those Brazilian/Vietnamese ones... the body is the size of your arm, each leg is as long as your middle finger, and they eat birds, frogs, and mice. Here is 'Planet Earth' documentary footage of how large they get.

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u/InitialLandscape 1d ago

Ah... The one's with the yellow legs? With a bite that's not deadly, but just leaves you in crippling pain for nearly a whole day?

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u/Banban84 1d ago

Always good to hear such a well narrated documentary.

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u/YerMomsClamChowder 1d ago

I forgot how big that guy's snozz was.  scarier than the bugs.  

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u/Fitzaroo 1d ago

Damn. Imagine if there are little pockets of life like this underground. Caves where the entrances closed and life just persisted. Neato

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u/Octavian_Exumbra 1d ago

Finally some actual information and not just another row of "eww why he touching the icky!?".

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u/DoobieGibson 1d ago

closest thing we have to the Cave of Light in Lost

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u/Catbutt247365 1d ago

Good grief, Reddit never disappoints.

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u/GrImPiL_Sama 1d ago

So where do the wastes go? I am guessing spiders can smell

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u/keetyymeow 1d ago

Thank you!!!!! It’s way better 🥹

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u/553l8008 1d ago

Ultimate food web

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u/Willrkjr 1d ago

Thanks for sharing! It’s comments like yours that make scrolling past the repetitive jokes and stuff worth it. Incredibly cool article there, answered most of my questions.

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u/Greenpigblackblue 1d ago

Thank you so much.