Natural History Wanderings

The New York Times in the article How Do Spiders Spin Their Webs Across Great Distances? explains how spider webs manage to cover long distances. Spiders start their webs with a single strong strand called a bridge thread . The loose end of the strand depends on either gravity or a breeze to make contact with branch or other object. If the strand makes contact  and attaches to another object the spider will use it to start building a web. If the strand does not make contact the spider may eat the strand and in effect recycle it for another attempt. Spiders sometimes leave a bridge thread overnight to mark their territory and mark a good starting spot for building tomorrow’s web. Read more at: How Do Spiders Spin Their Webs Across Great Distances? – NYTimes.com.