Global InformationSpider web information
A spider web, spiderweb, spider's web, or cobweb (from the archaic word coppe, meaning "spider")[1] is a structure created by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets, generally meant to catch its prey.
Spider webs have existed for at least 100 million years, as witnessed in a rare find of Early Cretaceous amber from Sussex, in southern England.[2] Many spiders build webs specifically to trap and catch insects to eat. However, not all spiders catch their prey in webs, and some do not build webs at all. The term "spider web" is typically used to refer to a web that is apparently still in use (i.e., clean), whereas "cobweb" refers to a seemingly abandoned (i.e., dusty) web.[3] However, the word "cobweb" is also used by biologists to describe the tangled three-dimensional web[4] of some spiders of the family Theridiidae. While this large family is known as the cobweb spiders, they actually have a huge range of web architectures; other names for this spider family include tangle-web spiders and comb-footed spiders.[citation needed]
- ^ "Oxford Dictionaries - The World's Most Trusted Dictionary Provider". Oxford Dictionaries. Archived from the original on 2005-11-20. Retrieved 2018-03-16.
- ^ Brasier, Cotton & Yenney 2009
- ^ Vollrath, F.; Selden, P. (December 2007). "The role of behavior in the evolution of spiders, silks, and webs". Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst. 38: 819–46. doi:10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.37.091305.110221. S2CID 54518303.
- ^ O.E.D.