Giant Spiders, reportedly descended from Ungoliant, and relations of Shelob, the great spider in The Lord of the Rings. The Dwarves and Bilbo ran into them when they strayed off the forest road against the advice of Gandalf. The original account can be read in Chapter 8 of The Hobbit "Flies and Spiders." Or you can read a summary of the chapter at the related link.
The party enters Mirkwood.
The elven king in The Hobbit is the leader of the race of Elves that lived in Mirkwood.
Esgaroth is in the Long Lake of the river Running. It is east of Mirkwood and south of Erebor and Dale.
There were no foods, which was part of the problem. The vegetation was mostly lichen and the squirrels tasted terrible.
Legolas was the son of the Elvenking of Mirkwood, King Thranduil, and thus is technically a prince, though he is never titled as such in either book or film.
Because
The party enters Mirkwood.
Mirkwood.
Fat Bombur.
There were forest elves living in Mirkwood. There were also large spiders nesting in the forest.
The elven king in The Hobbit is the leader of the race of Elves that lived in Mirkwood.
In the Hobbit, King Thranduil of Mirkwood, the Wood Elves' king, liked his wine from Dorwinion. His wine was also imported by the Elves of Mirkwood in barrels down the Forest River from Long lake.
They Went through Mirkwood
Esgaroth is in the Long Lake of the river Running. It is east of Mirkwood and south of Erebor and Dale.
There were no foods, which was part of the problem. The vegetation was mostly lichen and the squirrels tasted terrible.
Mirkwood is a deep, very large forest. It is populated by nasty creatures that peer out with large eyes at night. There is nothing there that can be eaten. Sunlight does not penetrate through the heavy foliage.
Shelob is not mentioned in The Hobbit. Shelob is later explained to have spawned the creatures that lived in Mirkwood. They are the ones that caught the Dwarves and would have eaten them if Bilbo hadn't rescued them.