hydraulika-i-pneumatyka: Spider silk

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

Spider silk is a protein fibre or silk spun by spiders. Spiders use silk to make webs or other structures that function as adhesive traps to catch prey, to entangle and restrain prey before biting, to transmit tactile information, or as nests or cocoons to protect their offspring. They can use the silk to suspend themselves from height, to float through the air, or to glide away from predators. Most spiders vary the thickness and adhesiveness of their silk according to its use. In some cases, spiders may use silk as a food source. While methods have been developed to collect silk from a spider by force, gathering silk from many spiders is more difficult than from silk-spinning organisms suc…

Evidence: 55 • authority: 88

Just Hang On: Australian Gall Midges Suspend Themselves on Spider Silk Without Becoming Entangled. ABSTRACT Spider silk is a versatile material that is exploited by its creators, but potentially also by other animals once deposited into the environment. In this study, we report on gall midges from the family Cecidomyiidae in Australia exploiting spider silk as roosting sites. Across two distant locations in New South Wales, Australia, we observed adult midges suspended motionless on aerial lines by their front pair of legs yet able to liberate themselves when disturbed. The benefit of using silk as a resting surface may include a reduction in predation risk by terrestrial and aerial predato…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

Ballooning, sometimes called kiting, is a process by which spiders, and some other small invertebrates, move through the air by releasing one or more gossamer threads to catch the wind, causing them to become airborne at the mercy of air currents and electric fields. A 2018 study concluded that electric fields provide enough force to lift spiders in the air, and possibly elicit ballooning behavior. This is primarily used by spiderlings to disperse; however, larger individuals have been observed doing so as well. The spider climbs to a high point and takes a stance with its abdomen to the sky, releasing fine silk threads from its spinneret until it becomes aloft. Journeys achieved vary from…

Evidence: — • authority: 92

Silk Microfiber-Reinforced Biomass Aerogel with Cobweb-like Pore Structure for Highly Efficient Eco-Friendly Air Filtration.. Airborne particulate matter pollution has posed severe threats to public health, while conventional air filtration materials suffer from non-biodegradability and poor structural stability. Herein, a series of eco-friendly konjac glucomannan/sodium alginate (KGM/SA) composite aerogels reinforced by silk microfibers (SFs) were fabricated via freeze-drying. The extracted SF had a concentrated diameter distribution of 500 nm, with a well-preserved crystalline structure and the β-sheet secondary structure of natural silk. Results demonstrated that SF incorporation effecti…