Spiders produce silken thread using several paired spinneret glands located at the tip of their abdomen. Each gland produces a thread for a special purpose – for example a trailed safety line, sticky silk for trapping prey or fine silk for wrapping it. Spiders use different gland types to produce different silks, and some spiders are capable of producing up to 8 different silks during their lifetime.
Most spiders have three pairs of spinnerets, each having its own function – there are also spiders with just one pair and others with as many as four pairs.
Webs allow a spider to catch prey without having to expend energy by running it down. Thus it is an efficient method of gathering food. However, constructing the web is in itself an energetically costly process due to the large amount of protein required, in the form of silk. In addition, after a time the silk will lose its stickiness and thus become inefficient at capturing prey. It is not uncommon for spiders to eat their own web daily to recoup some of the energy used in spinning. The silk proteins are thus recycled.
The tensile strength of spider silk is greater than the same weight of steel and has much greater elasticity. . Taken in eastern Oregon long ago. Rising early in the morning which is usually the best time to find webs unbroken and decorated in dew and sunlight.
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Iabcstm 14 months ago | reply
Thank you for posting in::
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SJKen 14 months ago | reply
Wow, very impressive.
*thanks - the dream*
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madktm 14 months ago | reply
great shot
Me 2 You Photography 13 months ago | reply
As seen in
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