28-02-2021, 07:08 PM
5
Re: Orb-weaver spider
Originally Posted by Pixie Knuckles
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Its a lovely pic, but glad its with you and not over here. Not a fan of spiders. At.All.
28-02-2021, 07:13 PM
6
Re: Orb-weaver spider
Originally Posted by Minx
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I’m terrified of spiders but we had a good chat. She seems nice. Apparently she’s a web designer.
28-02-2021, 09:21 PM
9
Re: Orb-weaver spider
Originally Posted by paula
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Me too Pixie.....I have a spider spray, I spray every corner of my house to keep them away...
01-03-2021, 09:02 PM
10
Re: Orb-weaver spider
Originally Posted by Longdogs
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I agree.
A female orb spider can have an abdomen of up to 30mm long. She dwarfs the tiny 5mm male in both size and weight. In almost all nephila species the male is in danger of being devoured by the female after mating. To avoid being cannibalised, the male will approach the female when she is already feeding, or present her with a parcel of food to eat. Whilst the female is distracted, the male will fertilize her and then retreat to a safe distance.
The silk of this species is incredibly strong. It can even trap small birds. There is a theory that if were possible to weave a line of the silk to a thickness of a small pencil, it would be able to withstand and repel a 747 jumbo jet at maximum speed. In some tribal communities, the web silk is used to make fishing lures and traps. Fishermen on the islands of the Indo-Pacific roll the nets into a ball and throw them into the water. The ball unrolls and is then used as a net to catch bait fish. Efforts to use the silk commercially to manufacture cloth have failed; however, there has been some promising research on the silk in the field of tissue engineering for medical use.
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