thousandsofcookies
Delicate nets in the sunlight
Spider webs are precise lightweight structures made of spider silk, a family of proteins (spidroins) produced by different glands for different purposes: dry, load-bearing frame and radial threads, and elastic capture spirals coated with sticky glycoprotein droplets.
The silk is both strong and tough, stretches substantially, and “supercontracts” when wet (the fibers shorten, pre-tensioning the web and improving vibration transmission). Many species recycle material by eating their old webs. The web also functions as a sensory organ: vibrations reveal the direction and nature of a disturbance, and some spiders actively pluck the threads to communicate. Besides glue-based webs, there is cribellate silk: a woolly nanofibril fluff without adhesive.
A spectacular behavior is “ballooning,” in which fine silk threads carry spiders on updrafts and electrostatic forces. Stabilimenta can reflect UV light, potentially luring prey or warning larger animals to avoid collisions. For humans, webs are useful (catching mosquitoes) and inspire tough, biocompatible materials.
Delicate nets in the sunlight
Spider webs are precise lightweight structures made of spider silk, a family of proteins (spidroins) produced by different glands for different purposes: dry, load-bearing frame and radial threads, and elastic capture spirals coated with sticky glycoprotein droplets.
The silk is both strong and tough, stretches substantially, and “supercontracts” when wet (the fibers shorten, pre-tensioning the web and improving vibration transmission). Many species recycle material by eating their old webs. The web also functions as a sensory organ: vibrations reveal the direction and nature of a disturbance, and some spiders actively pluck the threads to communicate. Besides glue-based webs, there is cribellate silk: a woolly nanofibril fluff without adhesive.
A spectacular behavior is “ballooning,” in which fine silk threads carry spiders on updrafts and electrostatic forces. Stabilimenta can reflect UV light, potentially luring prey or warning larger animals to avoid collisions. For humans, webs are useful (catching mosquitoes) and inspire tough, biocompatible materials.