From making parachutes to building scuba tanks, arachnids have come up with some fascinating works

Spider silk is a kind of magical material. By weight, it is stronger than steel, tougher than Kevlar, and more elastic than rubber. It also has flexibility and antibacterial properties. Scientists used silk to make bulletproof armor, violin strings, medical bandages, fiber optic cables and even luxury clothes.

"If you tell them, I don't think people will believe you. There is a kind of creature. If you enlarge it... to the size of a human being, it can catch up with an airplane with its own materials," Oxford University's evolutionary biology Said the scientist Fritz Vollrath.

Spider silk is composed of a mixture of different proteins, which are linked together to form a chain, produced by a special gland called spinneret at the back of the spider. All spiders produce silk (some spiders can produce several different spiders), but they do not necessarily form webs as depicted in Halloween decorations.

Here are some strange ways that spiders use their silk, they go beyond the static webs they use to catch prey.

Silk as a passive web into which insects fly may be the least interesting of all spider hunting methods. To catch the next meal, spiders may use their silk as a web - or as a lasso, whip, tie, camouflage, fishing line, and bait.

Most spiders avoid ants because they are often carnivores themselves, but there is a spider family that treats ants as food. When the wall spider (Oecobius) encounters an ant alone, it will go around the victim while spitting out a silk thread and wrapping the ant at a safe distance. After the ants are all pushed down, the spider is killed by biting the ants at the base of the antennae.

The ogre face spider (Deinopis) weaves a web like a snare, but deploys it in an unusual way. It weaves a net between its four front legs, keeping the creation open and waiting while hanging upside down. Once the insect lingers, it uses its net as a net to catch its prey. This kind of net hunter can catch prey that is wandering below or even flying in the air, just like a lacrosse player catches a ball. Then the victorious spider tied up its prey and killed it.

In 1883, the Krakatau volcano in Indonesia today erupted, producing more than 10,000 hydrogen bombs, destroying most of the island and turning it into a lifeless wasteland. Three months later, the visiting scientists were surprised to find that there is a form of life in the area: miniature spiders.

These spiders are not on Newborn Island because they survived the explosion. Instead, they went there after the volcano erupted-by balloon. It is now a well-known phenomenon that when spiders flow their silk into the air and spread their sails like sails, balloon inflation occurs. People have found spiders in the middle of the ocean, riding rapids and remote islands hundreds of miles away from the mainland. Not all spiders can fly great distances-some spiders rely on it to escape predators or fly short distances without consuming too much energy.

When the spider flies, it actually stands on its toes and lifts its abdomen to the sky. It does not always need favorable winds to release the wind (light winds are better than gusts), but rely on electrostatic repulsion to generate most of the lift. The spider's ribbon is negatively charged, similar to the earth's surface being negatively charged by 40,000 thunderstorms every day around the world. Like charge repulsion, force pushes the silk off the ground to help the spider fly. Spiders can perceive electric fields through the hair on their legs, so they may raise their limbs to investigate atmospheric conditions before making the big escape.

Orb-weaving spiders don't just use silk to build their homes. Some of these spiders also worked hard to decorate it. They weave thick ribbon-like silk stripes called stabilimenta in their nets. Scientists first thought that these structures could stabilize the net, but after they discovered that the pattern was only loosely woven in the fabric of the net, this theory was overturned. Today, the function of the stabilizer remains a mystery.

But there are several hypotheses that try to explain it. Since stabilimenta is only woven by spiders that roam during the day, the researchers speculate that these spiders intend to let people see their elaborate web. The burst pattern can be used to camouflage the spider by hiding its outline. Scientists believe that they may also increase the perceived size of spiders. Other major theories include that these structures reflect more ultraviolet light in the same way as flowers and leaves, thereby attracting more insects to these structures. Or, they can be used as stop signs so that birds do not accidentally fly into and damage the network. The disadvantage of these weaving patterns is that they also seem to attract more spider-eating spiders by making the web look more visible to these visual hunters.

Jumping spiders roam freely during the day, but at night, or when it is cold or raining, they will spin a silky shelter for themselves. Jumping spiders use these "baby tents" to safely shed their shells, store egg sacs, or hibernate. A scientist speculated that the ability to spin comfortable cocoons to keep spiders away from the cold is one of the reasons why Himalayan jumping spiders (Euophrys omnisuperstes) can survive in the cold temperature of 22,000 feet above sea level, making them the highest non-migration in the world. animal.

A spider spins its cocoon to protect itself from the daily tides in which it lives. At low tide, desis spiders crawl on the bottom of corals, discarded shells and kelp on the beach. When the water level rises, the spider seals itself in these corners and crevices with waterproof silk. Researchers have discovered that spiders reduce their breathing rate to reduce the rate at which they burn oxygen in their air pockets. Scientists still have questions — such as how the web can withstand salt or how the spider keeps time with the tide.

Only one species of arachnid lives underwater most of the time: the diving bell spider (Argyroneta Aquatica). Like all other terrestrial spiders, it only breathes air. Before it dives into the water, it will form a bubble at its back as a temporary scuba tank. In order to obtain a longer-term solution, it spins an air-filled dome-shaped diving bell and uses silk on aquatic plants as its underwater home.

Diving bell spiders use bubbles collected from the water surface to cheer up their home. Their silky nests allow gas molecules to exchange with the surrounding water. The scientists measured the diffusion of oxygen into the diving bell and the diffusion of carbon dioxide to promote spider breathing. For this reason, scientists even compare the structure of homespun to gills. In hypoxic waters, these spiders will expand their houses to fill more air. Although the gas exchange is effective, the diving bell will eventually shrink, so the spider needs to resurface once a day to collect bubbles to re-inflate.

"Trap spiders and tarantulas will use silk to reinforce the tunnels they make. So it's like a building material," said spider researcher and communicator Sebastian Echeverri. Among his 19 pet spiders, his favorite are his two trapdoor spiders.

This spider decorates its home with solid doors made of mud, leaves and silk. Especially the door hinges are spun from silk. These arachnids close the door in the morning and open it when they hunt at night, when the spiders are most active. A silk thread radiates from the entrance as a tripwire. When the victim touches these threads, the ambush hunter will feel their vibration through the silk and pounce on them.

Doors can play a protective role, especially against their natural enemies: parasitic wasps. If attacked, trapdoor spiders will use their fangs to close the door—a move that is strangely reminiscent of a grumpy human teenager. But the stinging predator usually bites the flap and wins. The oldest known wild spider is a trapdoor spider that lives in southwestern Australia. It was killed by a parasitic wasp that attacked its home in 2016 at the age of 43.

Not all spiders are lone hunters. Of the 45,000 social species described, researchers know 25. Social spiders usually live in groups of up to 50,000 people (although members of around 1,000 people are usually the best size). Through cooperation, such an army of spiders can build impressive silk homes. The Anelosimus eximius spider colony in South America can weave webs up to 25 feet long and constitute one of the largest silk reserves in nature.

Only the female members-more than the males by a ratio of five to one-build, repair and clean their homes together. When spiders prey on larger prey that the individual cannot deal with alone, large groups and huge webs come in handy. Spiders work as a team to eliminate these larger insects, such as grasshoppers or butterflies, by using their numbers to overwhelm the victims.

If the Anelosimus web is disturbed by swarms of ants or wasps, the spider forces can defend themselves in return. The vibration of the intruder is easily transmitted to the huge net, which makes any surprise attack impossible. The victor of the battle, the spider or others, will get a rich meal from the fallen.

Large screens are not good for larger animals, especially birds, which steal silk to decorate their nests.

Although spiders usually quench their thirst by consuming the sap of their prey, they can also replenish water in the traditional way of directly sucking from water droplets or small puddles. In order to avoid traveling to the puddles on their own, they occasionally sip the water droplets that condense on the net.

Spider silk is very good at absorbing moisture from the air. Researchers studied the silk of the sieve spider and found that the key to its water absorption performance is the mobile structure of the fiber itself. In a humid environment, the filaments are squeezed into knotty puffs, spaced between smooth untangled strands, which look like beads strung on a rope. These knotty puffs are hygroscopic magnets. When water condenses on the silk, the water droplets slide along the smooth area toward the puff, where they coalesce into larger balls.

The knotty structure of this silk is very effective at absorbing water from thin air, and it has inspired scientists to develop similar materials, hoping to collect water from the fog.

The protein in spider silk is a valuable commodity. The energy of the spider is needed to make silk, so sometimes it will eat its own silk, allowing the body to recycle protein to make new silk. Many spiders often tear off their webs and start over, so they may wish to recycle their building materials.

Argyrodes spiders, or dewdrop spiders, take silk from other spiders to a whole new level. This spider is a stealing parasite, which means it will steal insect bounty from other spiders instead of looking for its own spider. It occasionally does more than steal—it may even enter and prey on its host. In barren periods when other spiders cannot catch them, dewdrop spiders will still steal from the poor by eating the host’s web. Their cyber robbery is a temporary foraging strategy used to get through a difficult situation when everyone lacks food. Researchers have observed in the laboratory that a veritable thief can eat the same amount of silk as an insect.

The nursery web spider is called it for good reason: it is well known that female spiders use silk to construct a conspicuous egg sac as a nursery. Mothers have a strong desire to protect-no matter where they go, they will put the oocysts in their mouths. When the eggs are about to hatch, the mother will spin a parenting "tent" and place the eggs in it. Then, she stood guard outside and defended against predators until her children were old enough to go out and enter the world on their own.

Women are not the only ones who use silk creatively. The man rotates the material into wrapping paper. As a symbol of sincerity, a male parenting web spider uses his silk to package food and present it to the suitor. If he shows up empty-handed, the cost is high: women usually eat him. Wedding gifts, like silk-wrapped dowry, help prevent female cannibalism and prolong mating time, keeping legged ladies busy opening gifts because men have their own way of women. Researchers have proven that if a woman does not show up with a souvenir, whether she is hungry or not, she is more than six times more likely to eat her future partner.

"Some [males] are actually very naughty," Walras said. Sometimes, the package "not even flies inside." Cunning males may take shortcuts-males may deceive and pack fakes, such as inedible plant seeds, leftovers, or pebbles, instead of devoting their energy to preparing a nutritious gift. A male may escape the trick and squeeze into a fast circle, but women usually shorten their romantic time after she discovers the trick. The deception of a childcare network male is a balance between costs and benefits: he can save energy by preparing a worthless gift for women; but on the other hand, he may not have enough time to mate, or he May be eaten.

Brides-to-be of many spider species are terrifying creatures-they may eat any male who dares to approach. The male spider may tie up the female spider with his silk before mating to prevent the female spider from eating it.

Some spiders restrain the female by tying the female's entire body to the ground; other males put a thin silk veil on their bride, which is injected with pheromone, which can excite her. Researchers have shown that this sparse silk can also soothe women like a weighted blanket. The Ancylometes bogotensis spider binds the female spider with only its legs, and then leans her aside to mate with her. This foreplay is entirely necessary-females are usually larger and more aggressive than males. In the case of Nephila pilipes, the female is 10 times larger and 125 times heavier. Females can easily get rid of the restraints after mating.

The wandering tarantula female is very difficult to play. In order to advertise that they are single and ready to socialize, they will leave traces of silk as they roam. This "Silk Road" contains sex pheromone, which is a shy chemical signal that allows males to chase happily. In fact, the male of a specific species of tarantula, Schizocosa ocreata, can distinguish virgin adults from prepubertal females from the chemicals in the silk fibers. They prefer to chase sexually mature females to increase their reproductive success rate.

Even before reaching the female, the male who smells the smell will courtship. Gorgeous performances consume energy and may make it easier for predators to see him. But researchers believe that performances still have an evolutionary advantage in the absence of the shy female in the audience. Performance is a clever shortcut. The male just hopes to attract the attention of other females happening nearby, and may be able to send a message to interested females in advance, not to eat the eager suitors.

Spiders are extremely sensitive to vibration. They can perceive their prey through the tiny vibrations in the silk​​. Silk also provides a perfect platform for arachnids to communicate over long distances by pulling silk or rumbling their abdomen. Spiders may communicate back and forth along the silk thread during courtship, so males can test water before approaching indifferent females to avoid being eaten. If the female is willing to accept it, she may rebound.

Spiders, if they are not yet clear, may be cunning creatures. A fratricidal spider learned how to imitate the vibration of an insect caught in a trap. It will fall down the webs of other spiders, use its singing to lure victims into a corner, and then ambush them. Portia jumping spiders are known for their intelligence. They "combine" the correct signals through trial and error until they successfully arouse the curiosity of their prey. A particularly stubborn Portia was observed to keep his experimental playing for three days before its prey finally decided to investigate.

Portia spiders will attack any spider that is twice its size, so when dealing with larger spiders, cannibals need to tremble carefully to prevent them from becoming prey. Once again, this clever spider tried different beats, perhaps playing a monotonous melody to calm down the big spider. Or, its rhythm may direct potential victims in a specific direction, so Portia can attack its prey from a safer angle. Portia’s impressive tactical range is a hallmark of the spider-eating world of spider-life.

Echeverri said: "[Spider] has taken every possible aspect of spiders, just running in a completely different direction. Spiders are'spiders' in a completely different way."

Shi Enjin | | Read more

Shi En Kim is a writer and researcher at the University of Chicago, who studies the physics of nano-sized objects. Outside the laboratory, she is a freelance writer for various publications, including National Geographic, Scientific American, Science News, Slate, etc. She is the AAAS Mass Media Fellow of the Smithsonian Institution in 2021. Follow her on Twitter @goes_by_kim.

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