I had so many thoughts about web spiders (crawlers) and what they might create that's never been seen before, until I read this article.
Nature is always several steps ahead.
A spider web unlike any seen before
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Re: A spider web unlike any seen before
#22All went to the cave to get away from everything
Re: A spider web unlike any seen before
#23Re: A spider web unlike any seen before
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
From the article: > The vast spider population is attributed to an abundant food supply: more than 2.4 million midges in the cave, ready to be entangled in the intricate web. ...although I guess the question then is what sustains the millions of midges!
From the livescience article linked by another poster: biofilm produced by sulfur-eating bacteria, which in turn metabolize sulfur from the sulfur-rich stream in the cave. So the whole food-chain here is: sulfur -> bacteria -> midges -> spiders.
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Re: A spider web unlike any seen before
#25One half of me is fascinated by this as spiders are such amazing creatures. So long as they don't break our house rules they're welcome to stay, especially the spindles! The other half of me didn't scroll far enough down and a a slither of the video played at the bottom of the screen making me think a spider was running across my arm and made me jump!
Yeah same, we do not bother spiders in the house unless they jump into bed or on food or whatever, and then we just take them outside. With spiders and cats in the house we never see any flies or other insects.
Re: A spider web unlike any seen before
#26All went to the cave to get away from everything
Oh, to be a spider eating 2.4 million midges
Re: A spider web unlike any seen before
#27The earth is full of wonders but we're destroying most of them.
Re: A spider web unlike any seen before
#28[flagged]
Re: A spider web unlike any seen before
#29"The cave is full of hydrogen sulphide gas in too high concentrations for most animals to survive"
Over a shot of a bunch of people walking around with no masks on?
Re: A spider web unlike any seen before
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
Also, this web is so dense it looks like a solid sheet of silk, studded with the remains of its past victims. Wouldn't that be a little too conspicuous? I thought spider webs were supposed to be nearly invisible to the prey.
Well the article claims cave is pitch dark, so I guess the invisible part is granted anyway.
Cave-dwelling animals don't just crash into walls all the time, so by "visible" I mean large enough and dense enough to be recognized as an obstacle in whatever navigation system they use.