Spider webs are one of nature’s creations that often leave us fascinated. Have you ever wondered why spiders weave them? A new study from Binghamton University reveals that webs allow spiders of the species Larinioides sclopetarius (family Araneidae) to amplify and hear better the sounds around them, giving them advance warning of the appearance of predators or prey.
article, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the authors explain that spiders sense the vibrations of the webs with the claws at the ends of their legs. The spiders respond to sound by turning, crouching, or curling up — and the sound can be at levels as low as 68 decibels.
The webs are very thin and highly sensitive to sound, giving them a surface area capable of detecting sound up to 10,000 times larger than the spider itself. With their reactive behavior, the spiders may also be altering the tension of the silk threads, adjusting them to capture different frequencies.
The researchers suggest that, in the future, it will be important to understand how they use the sound they detect, and whether other spider species also use their webs for the same function.
