Spider silk is one of nature’s most beautiful wonders. Sometimes, within these intricate webs, you can spot zigzag formations known as stabilimenta. They aren’t garlands or streamers spiders put up for decoration. Instead, they are silk bands that reflect a lot of ultraviolet light. Until recently, these formations were thought to serve functions such as absorbing moisture, helping regulate the spider’s temperature, or deterring predatory wasps.
However, the full role of stabilimenta in spiders’ lives hasn’t been completely uncovered. A new study of stabilimenta found that these zigzags capture vibrations traveling through the web, helping spiders locate prey faster.
What Did the Scientists Discover?
Researchers from the University of Bologna, the University of Trento in Italy, and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences set out to determine why spiders weave stabilimenta into their webs. Typically, these “decorations” appear as zigzag formations that stretch between two adjacent strands of silk or wrap around the web.
The team modeled scenarios to see how webs with stabilimenta respond when prey, such as a mosquito, becomes ensnared.
They found that when a spider stretches stabilimenta along the main (radial) threads of the web, the vibrations caused by the prey spread over a larger area. That increases the spider’s chances of a successful catch. In other words, stabilimenta help spiders more accurately pinpoint where prey is caught in the web.
The team suggested the findings could help engineers design better synthetic materials.
The study was published in the journal PLOS One.
Photo: Unsplash
