found this when looking through old excursion photos - can you spot the spider?
Spiders possess multiple types of silk glands, which produce silk materials with contrasting properties.
What happens if they combine different silks into a single line - Does this reinforce, even toughen, the silk thread?
We got some answers from cellar and cave spiders:
doi.org/10.1039/D5SM... 🔓
Media Release by @unigreifswald.bsky.social
www.uni-greifswald.de/en/universit...
@maitryjani.bsky.social from my lab @evoimec.bsky.social talks about her scientific journey and newest paper in @jexpbiol.bsky.social ERC Spotlight:
journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...
🕸️ Massive web stretch from our cribellating friend (Asianopis subrufa) recorded in the field. If you’re intrigued by this fabulous #spider #silk read on doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2529200123 by @evoimec.bsky.social et al :) 🕸️
The special thread meta-structure of the hyperextensible web radii is a looped-fibre reinforced elastomer - seen in all its beauty in this image - which just won the Royal Society Photo Competition! royalsociety.org/journals/pub...
#spidersilk #spiderweb #fibre #biopolymer
This study was led by @wolffspider.bsky.social and Martín Ramírez, with contributions by @roesslerdaniela.bsky.social Anna-Christin Joel, Vincent Jackel, Sebastian Büsse and @pmichalik.bsky.social
Netcasting spiders modulate silk thread stiffness via a tailorable multi-fibre meta-structure to construct a web that is hyperelastic and high load-bearing at the same time.
Read about our discovery in PNAS: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
🔓 & with video content!