I have often wondered how a spider can make its web… Sometimes you see a spider web woven from one side of the wall to the other. How does a spider do that? Is he waiting for the wind to carry him across? Can he fly or jump? …
Answer
The answer, as so often, is not simple because there are dozens of different types of webs. You can find it in one of the overviews about spiders. But the classic orb web, of the garden spider, for example, starts with one sticky thread that lets the spider drift with the wind until it finds a firm footing somewhere. The spider will firmly anchor this first thread before proceeding to construct the rest of the web.
There are videos on the web that illustrate all this:
e.g. www.conservation.unibas.ch/team/
Answered by
Dr Rudy Jocque
Arachnology Zoology Biodiversity
Leuvensesteenweg 13 3080 Tervuren
http://www.africamuseum.be
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