Writing spiders

Hello, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Writing spiders, the ones that make a zigzag pattern in their webs, certainly don’t do it to amuse humans like me who like to poke at it to get the spiders all reved up so they shake the web to run you off; if you live in the country you find ways to amuse yourself in nature. Scientists who get fixated on topics maybe unusual to you have several theories about this pattern. The name for this phenomenon is stabilimentum but it doesn’t stabilize the web; some of the other silks she produces do that --anchoring the web to hold up when the sticky web does capture an tasty, well at least nutritious, meal. If you’ve ever walked into a spider web and gotten it in your hair you know how sticky and strong it can be.