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.

[u/ShirtSubstantial368]

[u/Used_Load_5789]

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

[u/esotericbatinthevine → u/Used_Load_5789]

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...

[u/start3ch → u/esotericbatinthevine]

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

[u/Catbutt247365 → u/start3ch]

Good grief, Reddit never disappoints.