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Spiders use webs for many purposes. Spiders use web as a
dragline to lay out a trail, to pull themselves back to a surface, to line
a shelter, to wrap prey, to cover eggs, as shelters, during mating as a
signal and even to fly through the sky. Spiders especially young spiders
can fly in a process called ballooning. The young spider will crawl to a
prominent spot, release a strand of silk, let go of the surface and blow
away in the wind. On some days in the spring there are hundreds of spiders
blowing in the air and they can be seen when the light is just right.
The main use that we know about is to capture prey. However,
there are many ways spiders use webs to capture prey. Flat orb webs are
the most frequently recognized webs. Most of these are made by orbweavers
in the family Araneidae. The Tetragnathidae also make orb webs but they
are usually at an angle to the vertical position and this family is often
near water. The Uloboridae or hackle weavers also make orb webs but this
is a small family that less frequently noticed. Their webs have silk
strands that are frayed out with a structure on the spider leg called a
cribellum. The frayed silk tangles prey more easily that typical straight
strands of silk. A few of the Linyphiidae also form webs that can be
called orb webs.
Spider can produce sticky strands of silk and non-sticky
strands. This allows a spider to walk on the non-sticky strands while
avoiding the sticky strands.
Spider webs or silk as it often is called is a very strong
substance for its size. Webs have been used to close wounds in the battle
field and as cross hairs in bomb sites. There are also some islanders that
use gobs of webbing on a stick to catch fish.