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Spider silk is very strong -

Spider silk is extremely strong for its size. How strong? According to the University of Bristol, a spider silk cable would be five times stronger that an identical cable made of steel.

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Spider silk is very strong -

In terms of strength, spider silk is similar to Kevlar, a type of aramid fiber used in things such as aircraft bodies and bulletproof vests.

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Why it’s so strong and flexible -

Spider silk is made of thousands of tiny and slender intertwined fibers called nanofibrils. How these nanofibrils are arranged is what gives it its elasticity.

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Not all spider webs are created equal -

Spiders create their silk through their spinnerets. The spinnerets can, however, produce seven types of silk, each of them for a different purpose.

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Not all spider webs are created equal -

For example, the type of silk produced to wrap prey is different from the one used to form egg sacs, and son. The different types of silk are produced by controlling the types of proteins secreted.

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Not all spider webs are created equal -

There isn’t one spider able to produce all seven types of silk (that we know of, at least). The types of silk a spider can produce also depends on the species and sex (i.e. only females produce the silk used to make cocoons).

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Spiders don’t get stuck in their own webs -

The central spiral part of the web is sticky, and spiders know how to maneuver in their own webs.

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They recycle their webs -

The stickiness of a web is lost in about a day. Factors such as exposure to air and dust are the main culprits. The spider usually eats its own web before making a new one. This way, the spider recycles the protein used for the silk threads.

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Spider webs are not passive -

It’s a common belief that spiders form their webs and then just wait for lunch. This is not the case for every spider. Some do use the webs actively to ambush their prey. This includes shooting a web onto the prey. Yes, some spiders can loop the web into a sticky lasso and capture their prey!

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Tripwire system -

It’s estimated that spiders have been using silk for about 300 million years. It’s believed that primordial spiders initially did so to create their egg sacs and to line burrows, where they’d wait for their prey to become trapped.

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Tripwire system -

This tripwire system is still used by some spider species today, including poisonous funnel-web spiders in Australia. These spiders get a signal transmitted through the web and leave their den to kill the prey that tripped on their web.

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Pretty webs attract more prey -

Some spider webs have beautiful, intricate patterns, and, it turns out, they attract more prey. This is especially the case for orb-weaving spiders that produce a kind of silk called stabilimentum.

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Pretty webs attract more prey -

Both structural and physiological benefits have been attributed to these types of webs, but the exact function of these actually remains unknown.

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Pretty webs attract more prey -

Research does suggest that these reflect ultraviolet light very well and therefore attract more insects.

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Spiders can fly -

Spiders can actually use their silk to fly. This is done through a technique called ballooning. And we’re not talking about just hovering around. Some can get as high as 2.5 miles (4 km) into the atmosphere and travel great distances. They do so using Earth’s air currents and electric fields.

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Spiders can fly -

Research suggests that the ancestors of a species of trapdoor spiders might have used this technique to travel from Africa to Australia.

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Underwater webs -

The water spider, aka diving bell spider, lives exclusively in the water. As such, it forms webs between plants underwater.

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Underwater webs -

These spiders actually collect air from the surface and bring it to their dens underwater. From there, they can get signals when prey hits the threads of silk, and strike.

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Silk is the ultimate building material -

Spiders that live in harsh environments need to be protected from the elements, and their silk is strong enough to do so. This is the case of the Himalayan jumping spider, for example, which can be found at heights of 22,000 feet (6,705 m) on Mount Everest.

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Webs are like instrument strings -

Spiders pluck at their webs in a similar way one would tune the strings of an instrument. They use the acoustical vibration of the different strands to know what is going on in the web.

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Webs are like instrument strings -

When a strand is plucked, sound and resonance is bounced back, informing the spider of the presence of an insect, damage to the web, or even a potential mate.

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Liquid to solid -

Before it becomes silk, the dope (that’s the actual name) is in liquid form. A cocktail of biochemical reactions in the spider's body instantly turns it into silk.

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Liquid to solid -

And the spider can actually choose the type of web it wants to produce too as it exits the fluid-turned-silk through the spinneret.

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Web cities -

You have probably seen these huge spider web 'cities.' Some spiders are actually very social and live in these large colonies. Species such as Anelosimus eximius live in such colonies.

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The web plays a role in mating -

It is true that some females kill the male after mating, but this is not the case for every spider. In fact, some male spiders make use of their webs to avoid a deadly date.

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The web plays a role in mating -

Male from species such as Ancylometes bogotensis and Nephila pilipes actually tie up the females with their webs during courtship. The purpose is to calm the aggressiveness of the female spiders (they can easily break the silk), so the silk has calming properties, too.

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It collects water -

You have probably noticed the fact that spider webs can retain water droplets. The nanofibrils are designed to do so, with the spindle knots and joints.

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It collects water -

Scientists have experimented with synthetic fiber with spiral bumps in it, similar to those in spider silk, and found that it holds water through condensation.

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It collects water -

Just one of these bumps can hold as much as 2,000 times its volume in water.

Sources: (University of Bristol) (Science News) (Current Biology) (Grunge) (Popular Science) 

See also: Why we all want to kill spiders

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