To do this, a group of researchers catalogued and indexed the movements spiders use to build their webs and published the results in the journal Current Biology. Scientists have observed the same structural progression in this construction process with many spider species, though elements such as silk thickness and location vary greatly.Īfter centuries of fascination with the 2D webs created by a group of spiders known as orb-weavers, scientists are working to piece together what the pages of that intuitive instruction manual look like, and to understand what they can teach us about the animal mind.
It's a strategy that always works for them, almost as if spiders are born knowing only the steps of a choreographed dance - no pattern is revealed until it's finished. Unlike human architects, however, they start without the final plan in mind. (Inside Science) - Like any good architect, an orb-weaving spider builds its residence in stages.
