A spider web, spiderweb, spider`s web, or cobweb is a device created by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets, generally meant to catch its prey. Spider webs have existed for at least 100 million years, as witnessed in a rare find of Early Cretaceous amber from Sussex, southern England. Insects can get trapped in spider webs, providing nutrition to the spider; however, not all spiders build webs to catch prey, and some do not build webs at all. `Spider web` is typically used to refer to a web that is apparently still in use whereas `cobweb` refers to abandoned i.e. dusty webs. However, `cobweb` is used to describe the tangled three-dimensional web of some spiders of the Theridiidae family. While this large family is also known as the tangle-web spiders, cobweb spiders and comb-footed spiders, they actually have a huge range of web architectures.
|
