Radek Tesár 11. 6. 2025 clock 3 minutes video
The cobweb is one of the most perfect natural creations. But how do the spiders even start with the construction when they have to bridge the space between the branches without flying alone?
Spiders and their cobwebs have fascinated people for centuries. Fine, symmetrical and almost invisible insect traps combine strength, lightness and practicality. While the ordinary observer admires the result, the process of creating cobwebs is even more remarkable. The spiders do not produce only one type of fiber, but several, and know exactly how and when to use them. And the most interesting part of the whole building? How does the first thread between two distant plants get. This is the whole miracle that begins.
Check out an interview with a biologist and philosopher Stanislav Komárek:
As the spider creates its network
The construction of the web begins with the so -called “bridge fiber”. The spider stands on a raised place, raises the butt with the so -called nipples and begins to release the thin silk fiber in the direction of the wind. The thread is so light that it is captured on the nearest object, such as a branch or a leaf. If the thread does not catch anywhere, the spider will try again. Once the bridge is created, the spider passes through it and thus tightens the first fixed fiber of its future network.
After bridging, the spider begins to build the rest of the net. First, it creates a frame, a peripheral construction that holds the entire web together. Then it creates reinforcements from its center in the shape of a wheel. These serve as the basis for the next phase: a spiral from work silk. This spiral is not sticky and allows the spider to easily move on the net during the construction. In the end, the second, final spiral is created, this time from a sticky fiber that catches prey. This finishing circle winds in the opposite direction to the outer edge to the center.
Spiders use different types of silk, which are formed in different dream glands. Each species has a different function: some are extremely elastic, others sticky or extremely solid. Each gland flows into the so -called SPIGOT, miniature nozzles on the bottom of the buttocks. The spider does not cut the fibers, but pulls out by moving the body or rear legs. In the case of special types of fibers, such as cribellate wool, it also helps with comb -shaped hair.
Noe jen o law
Although insect hunting is the best known function of the cobweb, spider silk has a much wider use. It serves as a lining for Norwegians, protection of cocoon with eggs, or as a life rope that attaches the spider every few centimeters. When it falls, it easily climb back. Some species use silk ip “parachutes”. In this way, spider chicks are spread over long distances by wind.
However, the web can not last forever. They can be damaged by rain, wind and animal movement. But the spiders will not surprise at all. It can repair its network, and even consume its remnants to recycle precious proteins for a new building. They do all this without any plan! The ability to build cobwebs is congenital, they do not need to learn it. Nature simply made them masters of architecture and material engineering in one.
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