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Story summary
- Researchers documented a colony in Sulfur Cave on the Albania-Greece border covering 1,140 square feet and housing about 111,000 spiders, published in Subterranean Biology.
- The colony includes two species, Tegenaria domestica and Prinerigone vagans.
- This marks the first documented case of colonial behavior among these typically solitary spiders.
- The cave's hydrogen sulfide-rich environment creates extreme conditions.
- The ecosystem relies on chemoautotrophic bacteria forming a distinct food chain independent of sunlight.
