Holy hell, that's one large freaking spider web. In fact, it's actually one of the largest in the world.
National Geographic took photos of these nightmare-inducing webs discovered by Akron biologist Todd Blackledge. The Darwin bark spider is responsible for these behemoths.
Though the new species' webs are overall the world's largest, other spiders might exist that create larger orbs—the spiral at the center of the web—according to study co-author Todd Blackledge, a biologist at the University of Akron in Ohio.Despite spinning webs of Spider-Man-like size and strength, the Darwin's bark spider uses them to feed mainly on small fry—insects such as mayflies and dragonflies, the team found.
"In our dreams, we were hoping for bats or birds or something," the University of Puerto Rico's Agnarsson joked.
Check out the full gallery here.
(Hat tip to Scott Suttell of Crain's)
