Thursday, May 22, 2014

Morning Mist and Spider Web

The early morning mist in Russian Gulch State Park revealed that we were surrounded by thousands of little spiders, each using a horsetail plant as a base for its web.

Seeing all those webs made me wonder how come spiders don't get entangled in and don't stick to their own webs?

The smart creatures weave their webs using both sticky and non-sticky materials. Typically, the radial threads are non-sticky and spiders make sure to travel on them, carefully avoiding the adhesive spiral threads that catch the prey.

Early morning mist helps visualize spider's web.