When cleaning the BBQ last night, some industrious little spider had managed to get build a web in a gap some 2 meters wide between the BBQ and the tree and I thought how did he actually manage to bridge the gap to begin with?
Do they jump like some tiny eight-legged athlete, paying out rope as they fly through the air? Do they run down across the ground and then back up again? Do they perch on point A and fire a line across the gap line some little butt sniper and then build the rest off of that?
I am perplexed.
Edit: please forgive the illiterate title, insomnia’s kicking my ass at the moment.
In: Earth Science
Spider starts at point A:
1) releases a long fine thin spider silk into the air which flap & fly with the air current until it sticks onto a fixed surface point B.
2) like an angler, the spider will check for tauntness of the line (or tighten it) before moving from A to B.
3) spider will scamper to & fro several times on the line to lay more silk threads to thicken & strengthen it.
4) using its “footsteps” to measure the length of the thread, it works out the mid point & then the spider drops down releasing 2nd thread which it fixes at a lower point C. (think of a T or Y structure)
5) Using that structure as base, spider starts spinning, making its web using a mixture of sticky silk threads (the web to catch insects) & non sticky silk threads (allows them to access their prey) & voila!!
6) spider gleefully rubs its legs accompanied with evil chuckles & patiently waits for free food, no tax charged.
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