Spider silk

Spider silk is a protein fiber spun from specialized glands through spinnerets. Spiders produce different silks with distinct properties for tasks such as prey capture, egg protection, and movement.

Spidroin: A family of structural proteins that form the main components of spider silk fibers. These proteins supply the molecular building blocks whose assembly gives silk its toughness.
Major ampullate silk: A strong, extensible spider silk used chiefly for draglines and the framework of orb webs. Its balance of strength and stretch makes it a familiar example of load-bearing silk.
Orb web: A roughly circular capture web made of radiating spokes and spiral threads. Its architecture combines several silk types with different mechanical and adhesive roles.
Silkworm silk: A protein fiber produced by silkworm larvae, especially the domesticated silkworm Bombyx mori. It is another natural protein fiber, but its production and uses differ from spider silk.
Spider silk gland: An organ that stores and processes silk proteins before they are extruded as fiber. Different gland types produce silks suited to distinct functions.
Minor ampullate silk: A spider silk used mainly as temporary scaffolding during orb-web construction. It illustrates how a distinct gland produces silk for a specialized construction task.
Dragline silk: A safety line spun by a spider, commonly made from major ampullate silk. It supports movement and escape while exposing silk to repeated mechanical loads.
Artificial silk: A manufactured fiber designed to resemble silk, including regenerated cellulose fibers such as rayon. It contrasts engineered silk-like textiles with fibers spun directly by spiders.
Spinneret: A spider’s external silk-spinning structure, bearing openings connected to silk glands. Spinnerets draw gland-produced material into fibers and help control their placement.
Flagelliform silk: An exceptionally extensible silk used in the capture spirals of many orb webs. Its elasticity lets sticky capture threads stretch as trapped insects struggle.

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