Spider’s webs are created with advanced geometry- using silk thread that is equivalently stronger than steel.
English comedian Ricky Gervais said that Aussies were the “coolest people around” because we have the “deadliest snakes, spiders and jellyfish on the planet, yet walk around drunk all the time in flip-flops”. But actually, most Aussies have a morbid fear of spiders (which is probably the reason for the national drinking problem).
To be fair, in Sydney there are a couple of deadly arachnids such as the Funnel-web and the Redback, but hardly anyone ever gets killed by them. In fact, since anti-venom became available, no fatalities have been recorded. I have Redbacks living in my garage, and they tend to keep to themselves. Most of our spiders just go about their business, weaving ingenious webs, waiting patiently for a feed and clinging tenaciously to existence in an arachnophobic world.
Some architects have been modelling roof spans on these web-building techniques. They’ve found that they’re able to construct lighter structures with a greater capacity for shock absorption than by using conventional methods. Spiders have been around for 400 million years and can be found in every natural environment on earth (except the deep oceans). The good news (for the few people who like them) is that there are around 45,750 species on the planet.
Here are a couple of my favourite local ones, which are almost harmless…unless you annoy them to the extremes of spider tolerance (mildly numbing bites have been known to occur!)
Golden Orb-weaver
These spiders build some of the largest webs in the land, made from silk with a golden hue (hence the name). It seems that the silk’s colour may ensnare bees that are attracted to the yellow strands. It’s not unknown for small birds or even snakes to be caught in this golden trap! In dappled light the web blends into the background and acts as camouflage. The spider can actually adjust the pigment intensity. Sometimes you can see rows of these spiders in concurrent webs slung across or above pathways. (They soon learn by experience to build them out of harm’s way).
The weird thing is that the females, with grey bodies and black and yellow banded legs, are quite large (with up to a 9cm leg span). But if you look closely at the web, you’ll often see a number of tiny black spiders lurking at the fringes of the web. Those are the males waiting for a chance to mate! You may also see some other small spiders (such as the Quicksilver) which “pirate” some of the smaller insects caught in the web. As winter approaches, just before the Golden-orb succumbs to the colder weather, you’ll see her wrap her eggs in a mass of golden web and hide them amongst leaves or twigs away from the nest, ready to hatch in spring.
Leaf Curling Spider
These spiders have long legs and plump bodies but in the daytime you’ll rarely see them. They’ve devised an ingenious solution to keep themselves safe from predators such as Noisy Miner birds. As their name suggests, they haul a leaf into their webs, curl it over, line it with silk and use it as a protective haven (which also shelters them from the elements). They’ll then sit in this cylinder with just their feet protruding, which will sense the vibrations of prey, caught in their web.
Remember, as an Aussie, it’s your job to be hospitable to spiders and act nonchalantly around them. We must continue the pretense, to British people, that we live amongst poison- soaked agents of the devil.