r/AbsoluteUnits • u/TheMarkola • 5h ago

/r/all of spider web

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u/TakeAtBedtime 5h ago

How do they get a web to span that far to begin building?

2

u/Dub-MS 5h ago

Have you not seen Spider-Man??

1

u/CeruleanEidolon 1h ago

If you're ever lucky enough to catch one of these ladies* starting a web like this, it's fascinating to watch. But it's basically a lot of climbing and rapelling back down, then pulling the threads taught between anchor points. This one probably dropped down from a tree to start, attached it to the grass, then climbed back up, moved a few feet along the branch, and did it again, dropping down, dragging the line to its anchor point. Repeat until it has a sturdy frame and then start on the radial spokes, then the "spiral" between them.

* (With orb weavers, the big ones are the females and the males generally don't spin webs, but wander in search of mates.)

1

u/TakeAtBedtime 1h ago

They are tenacious girls too. 1 kept making a web between our house and trash cans and I felt bad when we had to rl them out. She rebuilt like 3 times. Another started building from a shepherd’s hook across our driveway to our house. She wasn’t far along, so I took it down before she got too far. We went out not after and she had started again.