![]() ![]() The duration a spider keeps a web varies. Like orb web builders, cobweb builders are constantly listening to their webs. Within two days, the spider has a web with all the primary functional architecture, but they continue to improve and repair over time. Once those are established, the spider further develops the web, which may include elastic threads and sticky booby traps. As Markus Buehler and Wei Lu of MIT explain, spiders building this type of web first create a rough outline of the web, which includes key anchoring points, using the super-strong silk. Spiders that build three-dimensional tangle webs – commonly called cobwebs – also follow recognizable construction stages. Their legs, which handle the silk, also have distinct gestures at each stage. When they build the inner spiral, they repeat a particular silk-anchoring behavior. ![]() When spiders make the radial threads, they walk in and out from the web center. Just as a dance can have sections defined by characteristic moves, the stages of orb web building are characterized by specific actions. ![]() A damaged or poorly built web must be improved or that spider risks going hungry – or getting caught by other predators. But they are also “listening” to the web by paying attention to how well it functions. Partly this listening is literal, as spiders use their webs to detect vibrations transmitted through the silk. There’s sensory input: the music.” For spiders the “music” is their silk, and they’re constantly listening with their legs. Gordus compares web building to dance choreography, noting, however, that, “Ballet isn’t performed in a vacuum. Research by Andrew Gordus of Johns Hopkins University has shown that spiders are constantly assessing their webs for errors and will backtrack to previous construction stages to make adjustments, often necessary when building in unpredictable outdoor environments. Once a spider has committed to building a web, it takes about an hour to finish. Some spiders, however, use a wooly silk that sticks to insects like fuzz on velcro. The capture spiral – used, as its name suggests, to capture prey – generally comprises an extra stretchy silk coated with a second silk glue. Next, the spider adds a temporary auxiliary spiral, which stabilizes the web, allows the spider to cross between radii as it continues to build, and guides the placement of the final capture spiral. A spider will start with a proto web of a few threads, then spin the radial threads that create the web frame. The frame of the web is made from super-strong silk anchored by a second cement-like silk. Orb web construction requires four different silk building materials and follows recognizable stages. ![]()
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