Why spiders are the ultimate interior decorators

Scientists spin a new explanation behind spiders’ web art

- CAROLYN WILKE

AFTER CRAFTING A gauzy web, a spider might reckon that the construction isn’t complete.

Some spiders, known as orb weavers, often add decorations, typically spun from silk but sometimes using bits of insect cadavers or shed exoskeleton.

It’s curious that spiders would embellish their webs in this way. The structures seem meant to be light and inconspicuous. Yet spiders add these big, noticeable features, known as stabilimenta, some looking like zigzags, others like a disk that’s been scribbled in thread, or even a big “X” that marks the web’s center.

A study published on Wednesday in the journal PLOS One offers a new explanation for why spiders spin stabilimenta, although it may not resolve the scientific conflict over the subject. It is an area that scientists seem to relish fighting over, said Gabriele Greco, a physicist at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and an author of the study.

“And I was stupid enough to start this topic,’ he added.