How do spiders spin webs?

1. 1

   Lue says

   A spider makes silk from little nozzles called spinnerets. To start a web, it lets out a thread, and the breeze carries it across to a twig. Next it adds spokes, like a bike wheel. Last comes a sticky spiral, round and round. Flying insects can hardly see it, so they bump in and stick.

   For ages 4–7
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   Checked against Spider webs (Australian Museum)

2. 2

   Why doesn't a web break when a bug flies in?

   Each thread of spider silk is really lots of tiny strands, twisted together like a rope. It can stretch to four times its length before it snaps. And for its size, it's stronger than steel. So when a bug crashes in, the web stretches and holds.

   For ages 6–9
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   Checked against How do spiders make silk? (Ask Dr. Universe, Washington State University)

3. 3

   Where does a spider get all that silk?

   Inside its belly, a spider keeps a watery liquid made of protein, the same building stuff that's in food. Its spinnerets turn that liquid into silk strands. Some spiders even eat their old webs. The silk goes back inside them, ready to be spun again.

   For ages 8–11
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   Checked against How do spiders make silk? (Ask Dr. Universe, Washington State University)

In Lil' Phil, reaching the bottom of this wonder earns a sticker for Lue's collection.

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