Why are spider webs sticky?

Anyone who comes into direct contact with a spider web knows how sticky it is, the result of a glue-like substance the spider produces from one of the glands in its stomach. But, until recently, scientists did not understand how the glue behaved. read more

Researchers are trying to figure out the properties of the glue-like substance that spiders deposit along the rings of silk in their webs that give the web its stickiness. Here, a banded garden spider, one type of orb weaver used in the study, waits for prey to become entangled in its web. read more

Not all spider silk is sticky. Only the parts of some webs that function to capture prey are truly “sticky.” Remember, though, that a given “thread” may be a group of many individual threads, much like a rope or a cable is designed. read more

Spiders can spin different kinds of silk, and not all of their silk is sticky. In fact, in a spider web only the silk used for the intricate catching spirals are dotted with glue, so spiders know which threads to avoid. read more