RECORD-BREAKING CAVE DISCOVERY STUNS SCIENTISTS 110,000 SPIDERS, 1 GIANT WEB
Imagine rounding a corner while exploring a cave and encountering a spider web the size of a two-bedroom apartment! That is what happened to a group of Czech spelunkers in 2022, who came upon what is likely the largest spider web in the world. The giant colony spans a 1,076-square-foot area along the wall of Sulfur Cave, an underground cavern with its entrance in Greece, and its subterranean section stretching into Albania. This remarkable spider colony is home to an estimated 110,000 spiders. The colony survived and thrived in part because of abundant food inside the cave, including a large population of flies swarming around the cave entrance, according to a study published
in the scientific journal Subterranean Biology. Researchers also found the cave spiders were genetically distinct from their relatives on the land’s surface, suggesting that generations of spiders had never left the cave. Called Sulfur Cave for its sulfurous-smelling waters, the cave is a subterranean network of large rooms, passages, and smaller caverns, with the giant spider web in a low-ceilinged, permanently dark area of the cave. The Sulfur Cave colony is also believed to be the first known stable, cooperative underground spider colony that includes more than one species that normally don’t live together, including an estimated 69,000 Tegenaria domestica spiders, a common house
spider found all over the world, and about 42,000 members of a smaller species called Prinerigoni vagan. The larger domestic spiders may have refrained from dining on their smaller webmates, P. vagans, because the lack of light inside the cave made it hard to see them, according to the study. Additionally, P. vagans tend to remain relatively still when hunting for food, making them less conspicuous.
The spiders built the colonial web by joining together many individual funnel-shaped webs.
Its inhabitants are described as “cosmopolitan spiders” by scientists for their willingness to cohabit with other species. Cosmopolitan or not, Sulfur Cave is clearly no place for an arachnophobe!
A SECOND CHANCE WITH STRINGS ATTACHED Deferred Adjudication in Texas
A lot of people who come to us have heard the phrase “deferred adjudication,” but they aren’t sure what it really means. Some think it wipes the slate clean. Others see it as just another word for probation. In Texas, it is something in between. It can protect you from conviction, but it also comes with serious strings attached. With deferred adjudication, you usually plead guilty or no contest, and the judge accepts your plea. Instead of finding you guilty, the judge
agrees to “defer” that decision and places you on community supervision for a set period of time. If you successfully complete that supervision, the judge does not enter a conviction on that charge. That is very different from regular probation after a conviction, where the guilty finding is already on your record. Deferred adjudication is not a free pass. You will have conditions to follow. Those often include reporting to a supervision officer, paying court costs and supervision fees, completing community service, taking classes that fit the charge, and avoiding new arrests. Courts can also order drug and alcohol testing and other tailored conditions. If you don’t follow the rules, the prosecutor can file a motion to adjudicate, and the judge can then find you guilty and sentence you anywhere within the normal punishment range.
Even when the case goes well, it doesn’t simply disappear. The arrest and the deferred adjudication still show up on your criminal history and most background checks. Some people are later eligible to ask the court for an order of nondisclosure, which can seal the record from most public inquiries. But that process is separate, and it does not apply to every offense. For many clients, deferred adjudication is a helpful option, especially when the evidence is strong and the risk of conviction at trial is high. In other situations, it may be better to fight the charges or look for a different type of agreement. Before you accept deferred adjudication, you should understand exactly what you are agreeing to and how it will affect your future. An experienced criminal defense attorney can walk you through your choices and help you decide if it truly gives you the second chance you are looking for.
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