Female in the centre of her web |
When humans imagine a spider, they mostly think of an orb web spider, placed in the middle of a large web, lying in wait for victims to pass along. Due to their webs, orb web spiders probably are the most prominent spider family, but by no means they are the only one. Thinking of an orb web spider as the spider reveals that humans apparently are impressed by the striking symmetry of their webs, generated by their radial axes and the circulating spirals. Webs are made of protein (threads? fibres?), that are elastic and have a high tensile strength at the same time. The webs of spiders simultaneously are master-pieces of art and of technology. Orb webs serve as traps to catch prey. Other spider families fashion different shapes of webs, some do not make webs at all, but actively go hunting. Orb web spiders are just a minority amongst all the different families. All spiders can weave. Spiders do not only weave to make webs for catching prey, but also for many other purposes. In this story, we introduce the Argiope bruennichi, one of the most prominent orb web spiders of central Europe. It lives in areas of somewhat warmer temperatures and used to occur in southern regions only. The spider is becoming more widespread in northern Europe at present and turns up in places where it didn't before. Some scientists take for an indication that our climate is warming up. |
