Spider Web Construction Movie – Orb Wheel

Spiders are often recognized by the web they weave. There are many types of webs, but this page focuses in on the Spiral Orb Web.

Spiral orb webs and the ones most people are familiar with, such as the webs near your door, corners, lights, etc.

Technically speaking, these spider webs are commonly associated with the family Araneidae, Tetragnathidae and Uloboridae.

There are many types of silk that spiders use to build their web. The spider web allows a spider to trap its food without having to spend a lot of energy chasing its prey; however, the energy required to create a spider web consumes a lot of protein, so the spider will often consume its own web (recycle).

Above, you’ll see an example of a spider web (the orb web), being constructed. Actually, there is a lot more to building a spider web, but this covers all the basics and serves as an excellent overview.

Did you know that a spider’s silk strands can be stronger than strands of steel of the same thickness? In fact, many high tech companies are studying the structure of the material to help develop new products for building and design!

Here is an awesome picture of an Orb Weaver provided by David Cappaert at forestryimages.org.

Written by Jim on February 6th, 2006 with 7 comments.
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