Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Spiders adorn webs


A new study has suggested that spiders build intricate patterns into their webs to protect them from damage.

The delicate web decorations spun by some orb-weaving spiders is nothing new, but why they do so is unclear. Now a new study has suggested that creatures use decorations to protect their webs from damage. A team from the University of Melbourne found that orb-weaving spiders respond to severe damage to their webs by building bigger silk crosses, but if the damage is mild they don’t bother to add decoration.

Mark Elgar, who led the research, said web damage is costly for spiders as a lot of nutritional resources are required to rebuild a web. “So they evolved this ingenious way to minimise unwanted damage,” he said.

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