Urban spider found building soundproof webs to keep noise out Premium

Discover how spiders adapt their webs to urban noise pollution, shedding light on the impact of human activity on wildlife.

The next time you sweep away a cobweb without a second thought, consider this: the silken structure is an engineering marvel. According to new research published last week in Current Biology, a North American spider species can change how its webs transmit vibrations.

The authors have reported that spiders in urban environments can build webs that filter out loud ambient vibrations. Conversely, spiders from quieter rural spaces build webs that amplify biologically relevant vibrations they need to pick up in their noisy environment.

Spiders and their remarkable weaving abilities have been celebrated in folklore for thousands of years. West African folklore tales of Ananse, the trickster spider that could turn human, celebrate him as a wise creator. In Greek mythology, Arachne was a skilful woman who defeated Athena in a contest by weaving a flawless tapestry. She was turned into a spider in her afterlife, and goes on to create beautiful webs, or so the tale tells us.

Webs are tools of creation in mythology as well as material science. Spider silk is known to be an amazing natural material with unique properties. It has inspired researchers to develop materials derived from spider silk with applications in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. They are also studying the unique combination of strength and flexibility in spider silk for use in textile production.

A few decades ago, researchers began to study how vibrations in webs transmit critical information for spiders.

For the first time, however, researchers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Brandi Pessman and Eileen Hebets, have shown that spiders can alter how they receive vibratory information in loud environments.

Vibratory information from the web is crucial for spiders because they don’t have ears. Pessman, the lead author of the study, said, “Webs are more than just nets that catch bugs. They’re actually extensions of the spider’s sensory system.”