Ask A Scientist© Biology Archive

name Brenda
status educator
grade K-3
location MO

Question - Why don't spiders get caught in their own web?
---------------------------------------
Not all webs are sticky. Spiders like familiar orb-weavers that do have
sticky webs, mostly
walk on the radii, the threads that run outward from the center, which are
not sticky. Also,
their legs are "groomed with an oily coating that does not stick. However, a
spider may get
stuck if it happens to be in the web of another kind." From The Book of the
Spider," by Paul
Hillyard.

J. Elliott
========================================================