A giant spider web discovered by spelunkers in a cave on the border between Greece and Albania spans about half the size of a tennis court. 

Some 111,000 spiders from two species that are normally solitary — 69,000 domestic house spiders (Tegenaria domestica) and over 42,000 of Prinerigone vagans dwarf weavers (Linyphiidae) — spun the web in the “Sulfur Cave” in the Vromoner Gorge. 

The researchers from universities and natural history museums in Albania, Romania, Belgium, Germany and Italy said the structure is formed “of numerous individual funnel-shaped webs.”

The design works better for cave preys. Moreover, cave spiders, which are social species, typically create sheet webs, tangle webs or mass draping webs covering entire cave ceilings. An orb web cannot be shared by thousands as it is built by a single spider for individual hunting.