Assuming you do not suffer from arachnophobia, you might well admire the intricate webs that spiders weave to catch their meals. But one species spins a web more impressive than any other. This web spans several metres and is spun in silk tougher than Kevlar.
Spider webs come in all shapes and sizes. Different spiders favour funnels, sheets, tubes or a tangle of lines to rival any Mission Impossible laser maze. But if asked to draw the classic spider web, most of us would sketch an orb web.
Its conspicuous webs can reach over 40cm in diameter
This is the name given to webs with a spiralling, circular pattern of interconnecting threads. Within an orb web, there are different types of silk: the strong scaffolding lines provide structure and the sticky capture threads trap prey.
It is not surprising that orb webs are the most familiar to us, as a lot of spiders make them. That includes most of the nearly 3000 members of the Araneidae family, commonly known as the orb weavers and the third largest spider family on the planet.
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