Contact: Beth King
kingb@si.edu
202-633-4700 x28216
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Gasteracantha Weaving Web

Caption: Researchers slow down video images in order to carefully observe how a spider (Gasteracantha) handles the sticky silk that it uses to trap its prey, pulling the silk out of its abdomen with its fourth leg and stretching it to weave its web.

Credit: Daniel Briceno

Usage Restrictions: Credit: Daniel Briceno

Related news release: Why spiders do not stick to their own sticky web sites