What Are Spider Webs Made Of? (w/ Dr. Linda Rayor)

What are spider webs made of? Why don’t spiders get stuck in their own webs? How similar are spiders to Spiderman, really?

I sat down with behavioral ecologist Dr. Linda Rayor to get some answers.

Listen HERE or wherever you get your podcasts!

Dr. Linda S. Rayor, on the faculty of the Department of Entomology at Cornell University, is a behavioral ecologist who studies social spiders, as well as teaching courses on ‘Spider Biology’ and how to do effective science outreach, ‘Naturalist Outreach’. Linda studies the behavior of very large, very fast huntsman spiders that live in large groups, primarily from Australia and Madagascar. She has produced 36 short scientifically accurate STEM videos that illuminate powerful concepts about nature and biological diversity (youtube.com/naturalistoutreach). For two seasons, Linda Rayor starred on the Discovery Science show ‘Monster Bug Wars’ about the behavior of predatory arthropods. Part of her spider exhibit ‘Arachnophilia: A Passion for Spiders’ is now online. Her innovative teaching has been recognized by national societies and within Cornell University with five teaching awards.

Episode Bibliography:

• 9 Amazing Facts about Spider Silk

• Scientists breed goats that produce spider silk

• ‘Spider goats’ display angers Ottawa professor

• Why is spider silk so strong?

• 11 Surprising Historical Items That Were Created Using Spider Silk

• Using Spider Webs to Heal Wounds

• Spider silk spun into violin strings

• Vibrating qualities of spiders’ silk exploited in prototype violin

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Episode recorded, mixed and produced by Kate Douglas

Theme song is by Matthew Dean Marsh