Stabilimenta: Emily the Spider Artist
A few interesting things happened since Emily picked up shop, moved over by George and laid her eggs.
One is that her web spinning has changed. She moved from the top of the screen where she'd been making webs about six inches across that looked like a tangle of hair you'd find in the drain. But now she's moved over by a wall and begun spinning proper orbs. Her most recent web is three feet across and looks like birds have been flying through it all day. There are several large holes where, I'm guessing, large insects have collided with it and either escaped or been eaten.
I'd thought she was rebuilding her web every day, but I'm not sure. Her current one has sustained a lot of damage and I think it may be several days old. I've started mapping the holes so I can better tell what's been rebuilt and what's brand new. Her web is very difficult to see during the day. It's easier at night with a flashlight to see the individual strands of silk that make it up.
But on to the topic at hand....
One really interesting thing is that she's started creating "stabilimenta" or web decorations. The word comes from the original belief that the designs were meant to make the web stronger. Scientists don't think that's what they're for anymore, but nobody is really sure why some spiders draw designs on their webs, though there are some theories.
E.B. White apparently spent a lot of time reading about this and bugging araneologists about it while researching Charlotte's Web and by the number of spider experts who quote him in the introductions to their books, he got a lot of things right.
So that those of you afraid to click on the lj-cut for fear of seeing a spider, (no matter how cute) I've made an edited version that I'll put here in front of the cut so you can see how cool what she's doing is.
Some of Emily's web art. Spider replaced with non-threatening artwork for the spiderphobic. Uncensored photos behind the cut.
Any thoughts on why she's drawing things?
[photos of Emily and her web art behind this cut]
Emily's artwork! Clickenzee to Embiggen!
Emily celebrating her art opening with a tasty fly. Clickenzee to Embiggen!
Emily's art. Clickenzee to Embiggen!
Some spiders have up to six different types of silk to choose from and choose the silk used for their artwork very carefully. I believe Emily, being a hackled-web spider has only one variety of silk, cribellate, which is not sticky.
Entemologists please chime in.
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One is that her web spinning has changed. She moved from the top of the screen where she'd been making webs about six inches across that looked like a tangle of hair you'd find in the drain. But now she's moved over by a wall and begun spinning proper orbs. Her most recent web is three feet across and looks like birds have been flying through it all day. There are several large holes where, I'm guessing, large insects have collided with it and either escaped or been eaten.
I'd thought she was rebuilding her web every day, but I'm not sure. Her current one has sustained a lot of damage and I think it may be several days old. I've started mapping the holes so I can better tell what's been rebuilt and what's brand new. Her web is very difficult to see during the day. It's easier at night with a flashlight to see the individual strands of silk that make it up.
But on to the topic at hand....
One really interesting thing is that she's started creating "stabilimenta" or web decorations. The word comes from the original belief that the designs were meant to make the web stronger. Scientists don't think that's what they're for anymore, but nobody is really sure why some spiders draw designs on their webs, though there are some theories.
E.B. White apparently spent a lot of time reading about this and bugging araneologists about it while researching Charlotte's Web and by the number of spider experts who quote him in the introductions to their books, he got a lot of things right.
So that those of you afraid to click on the lj-cut for fear of seeing a spider, (no matter how cute) I've made an edited version that I'll put here in front of the cut so you can see how cool what she's doing is.
Some of Emily's web art. Spider replaced with non-threatening artwork for the spiderphobic. Uncensored photos behind the cut.
Any thoughts on why she's drawing things?
[photos of Emily and her web art behind this cut]
Emily's artwork! Clickenzee to Embiggen!
Emily celebrating her art opening with a tasty fly. Clickenzee to Embiggen!
Emily's art. Clickenzee to Embiggen!
Some spiders have up to six different types of silk to choose from and choose the silk used for their artwork very carefully. I believe Emily, being a hackled-web spider has only one variety of silk, cribellate, which is not sticky.
Entemologists please chime in.
Add me: [ LiveJournal] [Facebook] [ Twitter] [Google+] [Tumblr]