Study Finds Old Spiders Spin Less Perfect Webs
Posted on July 8, 2011
New research shows that spiders weave less perfect webs as they age. Young house spiders weave webs with perfect angles and regular patterns, but as they reach old age their webs deteriorate. The spider web on the left was woven by a 17-day-old spider and the web on the right was woven by a 188 day old spider. The web on the right shows irregularity and holes. Webs of aging spiders are not going to be as effective at catching prey.
Researchers believe the reason web building skills are lost as spiders grow older may be due to degeneration of the central nervous system. PhD researcher, Mylene Anotaux, from Nancy University in France, says "Our next steps will be to understand whether age-induced changes in the central nervous system are behind the differences in behaviour we have found."
For the research, Mylene Anotaux used a common European house spider, Zygiella x-notata, which has a short life span (around 12 months). The webs of the spiders were assessed throughout their lifetime using measures such as the regularity of web structure, angles between the strands and whether there were any holes.
The research was presented at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Conference in Glasgow on July 2nd.