Animals

Intricate silk helps net-casting spiders ensnare prey in webs

Looped structures make webs that are both stretchy and strong

A strand of spider silk is covered in smaller, twisting and looping threads of silk.

The silk of the rufous net-casting spider, shown in a scanning electron microscope image, is simultaneously strong and stretchy, thanks to the loops of silk on its surface.

Martin Ramirez and Jonas Wolff

By Emily Conover

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