Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe MALHAM, England, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- An unusual colony of cave spiders, descended from pioneers who hitched a ride with scientists, is being returned to a cavern in northern England. The spiders flourished in the former orchid house at Malham Tarn House, a Victorian mansion in the Yorkshire Dales converted to a field study center for Bradford University, The Guardian reported. But they lived quietly in the derelict building and no one knew the colony existed until about two years ago. Advertisement Scientists believe the spiders' ancestors arrived 10 years ago on the clothes and equipment of a research team that surveyed the Chapel Fell cave, about a mile away. About 150 were living in the orchid house years later. Because the house is being converted to a classroom building, unsuitable habitat for arachnids, which like the dark, they are being returned to the cave. But the orchid house will have a "spider room," where students can learn about the former residents.
