Hey, you wanna come to a party? It’s full of spiders, bats and flies.
The Associated Press reports on the discovery of a 1,140-square-foot spider’s web in European cave, which is thought to be the largest in the world.
The web is home to an estimated 110,000 spiders split between two species, which has surprised scientists.
“Often if you have spiders in close vicinity, they will fight and end up eating each other,” says biologist Lena Grinsted.
However, in this case, an “unusually dense swarm” of midge flies in the cave has kept the spiders happy and well-fed. Additionally, the abundance of flies has kept the cave ecosystem, which also includes colonies of bats.
“They are constantly having a party there, both the spiders and the bats,” says speleologist Marek Audy, who led the cave’s research team.
We actually have something to do that day, but hope everyone has a great time!