spider silk
- Nitrogen inaccessibility protects spider silk from bacterial growth
Summary: Resistance of spider silk to bacterial degradation is likely due to bacteriostatic rather than antibacterial mechanisms as nitrogen is made inaccessible.
- Hunting with sticky tape: functional shift in silk glands of araneophagous ground spiders (Gnaphosidae)
Editors’ Choice: Gnaphosid spiders utilize sticky, extensible piriform silk to subdue hazardous prey. This derived use of attachment silk comes with strong modifications of the spinning apparatus and reduces the ability to attach structural silk threads.