Guam has 40 times more spiders than neighbouring islands – and a population of invasive snakes so voracious, they have emptied the forests of every bird.

The webs of banana spiders on Guam were also around 50% bigger. All year round, Guam's forests were positively glistening with webs: the team found 1.8 and 2.6 webs per metre of transect line in ...