How Spiders Avoid Getting Caught in Their Own Webs: A Closer Look at Spider Silk

KOMPAS.com – Spider webs are so strong and sticky that they can ensnare their prey in an instant.

Spider webs may seem dangerous to small animals, but spiders themselves have evolved to control these traps so that they do not become weapons for your master.

How spiders avoid their traps

When making webs, spiders use a combination of types of silk to fulfill different functions.

Spider webs are spun from glands. Depending on the type of silk, it can become one of seven glands.

No species of spider has all seven, but many species have several glands.

Also read: Why Do Spiders Have 8 Legs?

Liquid silk comes out of the spider’s body due to gravity and is pulled by the hind legs. The liquid silk then hardens, and the final result can be strong, hard, and also has a cushion-like effect.

Some silk acts like cement, securing the web, and some acts as a sticky coating.

Dragline silk is a very useful type that many spiders use as a lifeline when trying to escape predators, but it can also be used to start the basic foundation of a web.

This wheel-shaped web is reinforced with additional spirals that help support the spider as it builds the web. This spiral is then cut and replaced with a capture spiral coated with a blob of a glue-like substance.

Here, it appears the spider is at risk of getting caught in its own web, but not all of its silk is sticky.

Also read: What Does the Largest Spider Fossil Found in Australia Look Like?

In addition, the special combination of claws on the spider’s legs helps keep it away from the sticky parts of the silk.

In fact, the spider’s legs are also coated with a combination of non-stick branched hairs and an anti-adhesion chemical coating, which is combined with “special leg movements”.

Thus, it does not seem difficult for spiders to avoid getting caught in their own traps.

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2023-11-12 09:00:00
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