AWAKE JANUARY 2014
THE American house
spider (Parasteatoda tepidariorum) produces a web with adhesion that can
be strong enough to stick to a
wall or weak enough to detach
from the ground and thus act as a spring-loaded trap for walking prey. How does
the spider produce both strong and weak anchors for its web with a
single type of glue?
Scaffolding silk
Consider:
The
spider anchors its web to a wall, a ceiling, or a similar surface by weaving
highly adhesive patches of silk called scaffolding discs, which are strong
enough to withstand the impact of flying prey. Researchers at the University of
Akron, Ohio, U.S.A., have discovered that, on the other hand, the patches of
silk that are attached to the ground—called gumfoot discs—have an entirely
different architecture, or construction. With far fewer attachment points than
scaffolding discs, gumfoot discs allow the web to detach with ease and yank off
the ground any prey that has walked into it.
Gumfoot silk
According to a news
release from the University of Akron, the researchers who uncovered this wonder
of nature “are already working toward developing a synthetic adhesive that
mimics this intelligent design strategy employed by the house spider.”
Scientists hope to create an adhesive that can be used both for common bandages
and for treating bone fractures.
What
do you think? Did
the house spider’s ability to produce weak and strong anchors with the same
glue come about by evolution? Or was it designed?
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