Giant Spider Weaves Web of Super Strength Never Before Seen

Hey ATS, I found an article on Caerostris darwini, a giant orb spider and namesake of Charles Darwin. These spiders weave the strongest webs known to date and have three times the strength of kevlar. Not only are these webs incredibly durable but they have also been found to be massive in their construction, some even reaching over 25 meters.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/ca536fddbf78.jpg[/atsimg]

“Darwin’s bark spider or C. darwini,” as it is referenced, makes one of the largest known webs and suspends the giant webs across rivers and lakes, according to the researchers. The scientists say these spiders achieve this feat by using the toughest, most energy-absorbent silk ever discovered, stronger than any other known biological material and most manmade varieties. They publish their findings in the Sept. 15 and 16, 2010 issues, respectively, of the Journal of Arachnology and the PLoS One interactive open-access journal for the communication of all peer-reviewed scientific and medical research published by the Public Library of Science.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/72575b914313.jpg[/atsimg]

In their PLoS ONE paper, Agnarsson, Kuntner and Blackledge report on the testing of material properties of Darwin’s bark spider. The authors predicted that the expansive webs would be spun using extraordinary silk and they proved their prediction correct. First, the researchers considered that spider silks already combine high strength with elasticity, demonstrate exceptional toughness and are able to absorb three times more energy than Kevlar (a high-strength synthetic fiber) before breaking. The scientists prove that Darwin’s bark spider silk is about 100 percent tougher than any other known silk. Subsequently, this spider species produces the toughest biological material known.

www.impactlab.net...

Those webs are crazy. Cool information, thanks.

We have the smaller orb spiders all over where we live. Can't stand them myself, as they are everywhere here, and they love wrapping every car on the block every morning. They get into the side mirrors and start spinning from there. Hate 'em.

reply to post by TV_Nation

Very cool TV_Nation! I tried to find a picture of the spider and after some digging found this one.



Pretty amazing stuff, in both size and strength of the web. It seems another opportunity to mimic nature for the best products and ideas.

spec

reply to post by speculativeoptimist


Hey Spec, thanks for adding that pic its a nice one for sure. If you follow the link they talk about new technologies that may be adapted from knowledge gained from these webs.

Here is a video featuring intoxicated spiders weaving strange webs of a kind never seen before.

reply to post by Drunkenshrew


I remember this vid, friggin' hilarious! Don't know about that "tiny" amount of ellisdee though, looked more like a saturation! Love the "minimalist" expressions thereafter! Thanks for the laugh...again!

Back to post, 25 meters wide, wow! I bet theses things have eaten some bats and birds, no?
Can you imagine going down a trail at night and running into one of these...face first!

Here is a link to the original article:

Bioprospecting Finds the Toughest Biological Material: Extraordinary Silk from a Giant Riverine Orb Spider
www.plosone.org...

Anchor threads as long as 25 meters and a web, crossing a whole river. These webs are huge. I guess if a spider builds a web of this proportions, it should better be tough and visible. Otherwise those careless pesky little birds would destroy it. It would certainly be no pleasant experience canoeing in such a web. But a survivalist may use the opportunity to harvest such a web and later use it for fishing purposes.

Spider Web Fishing - South Pacific - BBC Two

Its hard to find a spider lover these days - thanks for thread. I can tell from the image of the web that it is very strong indeed. How beautiful the spider and her talent to weave such a web. I love watching them - when I find an active spider in her web outdoors, I pull up a chair and watch - truly amazing.