Webless Jumping Spiders Spin Super Strong Silk

The silk draglines made by zebra jumping spiders are tougher than the silk webbing of orb weaver spiders, even though they’re made at 25 to 35 times the speed.

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| 3 min read
spider jumping while making silk

High-speed photographs of a zebra jumping spider leaping across a 3-cm gap while its silk is illuminated by red light

PAUL SHAMBLE

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Jumping spiders don’t build webs, but like their arachnid kin, they can produce silk. Some species are known to spin fine threads as they leap, presumably to stabilize takeoff and ensure a more controlled landing. Since these draglines aren’t tasked with entangling struggling prey, researchers have wondered how they compare to the silks made by other species. Spider silk is considered a very robust natural biomaterial, with research finding it stronger than steel.

Harvard neurobiologist Paul Shamble and his colleagues decided to examine the silk produced by zebra jumping spiders (Salticus scenicus). Little did they know they were in for what Shamble says was “a huge surprise”: the strength of this spiders’ silk parallels—and even surpasses—that of most orb weaver spiders, which produce the strongest silks known.

First, to measure the speed of the spiders’ spinning, Shamble and his team collected the animals locally in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and recorded them ...

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Meet the Author

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    Chloe Tenn

    Chloe Tenn is a graduate of North Carolina State University, where she studied neurobiology, English, and forensic science. Fascinated by the intersection of science and society, she has written for organizations such as NC Sea Grant and the Smithsonian. Chloe also works as a freelancer with AZoNetwork, where she ghostwrites content for biotechnology, pharmaceutical, food, energy, and environmental companies. She recently completed her MSc Science Communication from the University of Manchester, where she researched how online communication impacts disease stigma. You can check out more of her work here.

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