A cave orb spider Image courtesy of blickwinkel/Alamy
Joel Kontinen
Cave-dwelling orb spiders have adapted their webs so they act as tripwires for prey that crawl on the walls of the caves.
Can spiders make orbs in the dark? This must be inspired by intelligent design,
Spiders known for elaborate circular webs have altered
their spinning style in dark spaces to create apparent tripwires for walking
prey.
Those that make circular webs are known as
orb-weavers, and most of them trap mosquitoes, beetles and other flying insects
in sticky spiral frame webs sparsely attached to outdoor structures, like tree
branches. But European cave
orb spiders (Meta menardi) anchor their webs to cave walls using twice as many
silk strands, which appear to vibrate when tripped by unsuspecting crawlers,
says Thomas Hesselberg at the University of Oxford.
Source:
Christa
Lesté-Lasserre 2025
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