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Created: 2011-08-17
Updated: 2011-08-17

Silk used for various functions: spiders


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Slide_show_arrows  1 of 2 Web Filaments of the Golden Web Spider / Ernest Russe.. / LicenseCC-by - Attribution

Individual spiders are able to use silk for a variety of tasks by varying the properties of the silks they produce.

Biomimicry Taxonomy
 
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Taxonomy_3 Material characteristics
Biomimetic Application Ideas
 
  • Scaffold for artificial skin
  • Silk-like nets to stabilize sands
  • Mosquito nets that incorporate silk properties and are designed for easy repair of holes

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[Collapse all sections] Summary
"Certainly the most extraordinary material among those tabulated here is spider silk (that of silkworm moths is substantially less extreme)--it has the greatest tensile strength, astonishing extensibility, and by far the greatest strain energy storage…silks vary considerably in their properties, quite clearly tuned by natural selection to their particular tasks…A single araneid spider makes frame silk for the main members of its orb, viscid silk for the spiral threads that catch prey, cocoon silk, prey-wrapping silk, and so forth. Other kinds of spiders make other kinds of silks for other tasks…Spider silks do have an unusual combination of properties. But I know of no evidence that these can be achieved (if one wants them) only by a sequence-specific heteropolymer of amino acids, something unlikely to lend itself to cheap manufacture." (Vogel 2003:344-345)

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About the inspiring organism
Araneae
Araneae


Organism/taxonomy data provided by:
Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2008 Annual Checklist
Bioinspired products and application ideas

Application Ideas: Silk-like nets to stabilize sands; mosquito nets that incorporate silk properties and are designed for easy repair of holes.

Industrial Sector(s) interested in this strategy: Materials science, public health

References
Steven Vogel. 2003. Comparative Biomechanics: Life's Physical World. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 580 p.
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