Secrets hidden in the strangest spider webs in the world!

The story began in a narrow passage deep in an underground cave between the border of Albania and Greece. While the scientists were immersed in black water up to their waists, they encountered an astonishing scene; A glowing wall of cobwebs stretched as far as the eye could see. This huge structure was the result of the cooperation of more than 110,000 spiders, who together had built a network of more than 100 square meters. (National Geographic)

This “spider metropolis” located in the “Sulfur Cave” is fed with a constant source of small insects; But this finding is just one of the wonders of the web world. Spiders use their webs not only for hunting, but also for covering eggs, transmitting vibrations, sending pheromone signals, and producing glue to trap prey.

Photographer: Unknown / www.zmescience.com

From spiders that decorate their webs to those that make replicas of themselves, scientists have recently discovered new behaviors. Cheryl Hayashi, a biologist, says:

The evolution of spider silk is one of the most amazing events in the history of life, and spiders are constantly finding new ways to use it.

Gabriele Greco, an Italian researcher, believes that the spider’s web works almost like an extra body organ; Something like you have an extra hand or extra hair outside your body.

This additional member has many benefits. A 1401 (2022) study found that some spiders use their web as an “advanced ear”. The string acts like a big antenna and absorbs sound vibrations; This increases the spider’s hearing power up to 10,000 times.

Photographer: Unknown / www.newscientist.com

Scientists are also investigating why some spiders weave zigzag patterns or special decorations on their webs. New research shows that these decorations probably help the spider to better sense the vibration of prey being trapped; Of course, there are still many mysteries left, for example, the ingredients of the web include more than 2,200 different proteins, and scientists have even tried to produce super-strong webs by feeding nanomaterials to spiders.

The story became more interesting when a researcher named “Larry Reeves” noticed a strange-looking spider in a forest in the Philippines. When he looked more closely, he realized that it was not a spider at all, but a sculpture made of webs and plant remains! At the same time, another researcher named “Phil Torres” in Peru observed a similar case.

Photographer: Emanuele Biggi / Nature Picture Library

The two researchers found that Cyclosa spiders make replicas of themselves using garbage, leaves, and prey remains. Some of these mockups are simple; But some others even have legs and look exactly like spiders.

Scientists speculate that this is a defensive trick. These spiders are small (about a centimeter), but the replicas they make are much larger. When predators like birds see this large replica, they imagine they are dealing with a giant spider that is hard to eat; So they avoid it. One of the researchers says:

Currently, only four organisms are known in the world that can build a structure larger than themselves from scratch. Three of them are this type of spiders and the fourth is a human.

These findings show that spiders are genius engineers and artists. As Hayashi says:

If you are a painter and you know how to draw a certain image, even if your canvas changes, you can adapt to it. Similarly, spiders use whatever is available to spin their web.

Photographer: Harry Trump/Getty Images

What was the most surprising thing you learned about spider webs? Share your thoughts with us and other Kajaro readers.