Spider Marvels: Stronger Than Steel, Lighter Than Air

In our language, "spider webs" have become synonymous with something flimsy that can vanish with a mere swipe. Well, we were wrong! A spider web, thinner than silk and almost invisible to the eye, is stronger and more flexible than a steel thread of the same thickness and can stretch up to five times its length without breaking, researchers say..

The spider’s various glands can produce different types of threads, and a single spider web is made up of multiple types of threads, which are secreted from different glands and then merged into one web by connecting the thread outlets together..

The spider can create various combinations of threads tailored to the purposes for which the webs are used. If we wanted to gather a kilogram of spider webs, we would need a million spiders. What do spiders do with their webs? Let's start with the hunting webs that astound anyone who sees the beautifully engineered, symmetrical, and precise design, even when woven in complete darkness..

In half an hour, a spider can weave a web with a diameter of up to a meter and a half! Some of the webs are coated with a sticky substance to trap insects. The spider also constructs a dwelling made of webs, where it hides and waits for prey. The prey is wrapped in webs to prevent escape..

For the female's egg sacs, around 20,000 per year, a special weaving is created for their protection. When a spider wants to cross a river, it climbs a tree and releases a long thread until the wind tangles it in branches across the river, allowing the spider to cross over on the bridge it built..

Some spiders construct an underwater home and connect it to plants there, and in a remarkable way, they bring down air bubbles to the dwelling for breathing. When a spider needs to escape, it drops while leaving a long thread behind, on which it climbs back to safety after the danger passes..

Generations passed before humans invented the hot air balloon that carries them on the wind. In contrast, every tiny spider, immediately after hatching from its egg, knows to release a long thread into the wind and glide on it both high and far. Sea voyagers have reported spiders carried away by the wind on their threads. Spiders have been observed, and even captured, by pilots above the maximum altitude that birds can reach..

The spider is not passive in its flight; in stormy weather, it can shorten the thread it is gliding on, and when the air is calm, it releases additional threads as needed for its flight. Considering the spider's ability to live without food for long periods, we can understand how it can traverse oceans using the wind..

In 1883, a volcanic eruption wiped out all life on the island of Krakatoa near Java, covering it entirely with molten lava. The first living creature researchers found on the island months after the eruption was a tiny spider that arrived by air. Every little spider seems to proclaim: Behold the genius of the Creator who made me!!