A spider web, spiderweb, spider's web, or cobweb (from the obsolete word coppe, meaning "spider") is a device created by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets.
Spider webs have existed for at least 100 million years, as witnessed in a rare find of Early Cretaceous amber from Sussex, southern England. Insects can get trapped in spider webs, providing nutrition to the spider; however, not all spiders build webs to catch prey, and some do not build webs at all. "Spider web" is typically used to refer to a web that is apparently still in use (i.e. clean), whereas "cobweb" refers to abandoned (i.e. dusty) webs. However, "cobweb" is used to describe the tangled three-dimensional web of some spiders of the Therididae family. Whilst this large family is also known as the tangle-web spiders, cobweb spiders and comb-footed spiders, they actually have a huge range of web architectures.
Read more about Spider Web: Silk Production, Types of Spider Webs, Uses, Adhesive Properties, Communal Spider Webs, Outside Influences, Low Gravity, In Popular Culture, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words spider and/or web:
“And now, dear little children, who may this story read,
To idle, silly, flattering words, I pray you ne’er give heed;
Unto an evil counselor close heart, and ear, and eye,
And take a lesson from this tale of the Spider and the Fly.”
—Mary Howitt (1799–1888)
“These seem like bristles, and the hide is tough.
No claw or web here: each foot ends in hoof.”
—Thom Gunn (b. 1929)