Spiders are amazing creatures, coming in many different sizes and engaging in a wide variety of hunting techniques. One thing that most people associate with spiders is their webs, which they use to capture insects and other prey for later meals.

For humans, the webs are generally seen as something to be avoided and can be annoying if you happen to run into one. Also, cleaning up spider webs in the corners of your home can be a constant battle. If you came across a spider web from Darwin’s bark spider, however, you might end up having to clean all day.

Darwin’s bark spider was first found and described back in 2010 and named after Charles Darwin because the discovery of this spider occurred during the 150th anniversary of his iconic book, On the Origin of Species.

The spider lives in the forests of eastern Madagascar and creates elaborate webs to catch various bugs in the environment. From its initial discovery, researchers noted that this spider was able to create very large webs. It noted the traditional wheel-like webs from this spider reaching as large as 900-28000 square centimeters (140-4340 square inches), which is absolutely massive compared to what most North American spiders can create.

Perhaps more impressive is the fact that this spider can make webs that span across rivers to catch the insects that are commonly found flying near the water. These webs have been observed with lengths as high as 25 meters (82 feet), which is almost unthinkable compared to most other spider species.

One web that spanned a river was measured to be more than 2.8 square meters (just over 30 square feet), ranking it as the largest orb web ever found.

In order to support such incredibly large webs, this spider seems to have evolved the ability to create silk that is about twice as strong as other spiders. So, in addition to making the largest webs ever recorded, the Darwin’s bark spider also creates the strongest biological material ever studied, according to research published in 2019.

This silk is believed to be so strong because of a protein called MaSp4, which is high in proline, the amino acid that is responsible for allowing the spider silk to stretch. This particular protein is not found in other spiders.

This, combined with a longer-than-normal silk-spinning duct, is what likely makes it possible for the webs they make to support such incredible sizes. To see how the spider is able to span such massive distances, check out this fascinating video from the BBC:

With the size of the webs being so big, one might expect that these spiders would be among the largest in the world, but that is not the case. The females are around 18-22 millimeters (.7-.9 inches), and the males are far smaller at just 6 millimeters (.2 inches).

While you definitely don’t want to run into their webs, they aren’t particularly dangerous to humans. This spider is venomous, but the venom is used to paralyze their tiny prey and will at most cause minor discomfort to people.

So, while they aren’t dangerous to us, they are absolutely incredible. And can you imagine trying to clean up a spider web this big?

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about why we should be worried about the leak in the bottom of the ocean.