The more I watch spiders, the more I am fascinated by them. I used to think that spiders extruded only a single kind of silk, but I have learned that many spiders have multiple spinneret glands that are used for producing different kinds of silk.
One of the most amazing kinds of silk is known as aciniform silk, according to Wikipedia, which is used to wrap up and immobilize prey. This silk looks like a long gauze bandage as it is extruded by the spider.
Last month, I watched as a large Black and Yellow Garden Orbweaver spider(Argiope aurantia) wrapped up a recently captured bee. I was amazed at how quickly it accomplished the mission, spinning the prey as it wound multiple layers of silk around it. Here are a couple of shot I took that show the spinnerets in action.
I loved the reaction of one of my friend to the first photo. He imagined the bee protesting being wrapped in bandages saying, “Hey, you’re not my doctor!”
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Truly an amazing process. It would be hard to imagine it without seeing it.
I used to spend many hours as a boy watching this same thing. It’s as fascinating now as it was then. You got some great shots of the process.
Thanks. It’s amazing to see how fast the spiders move when completing this process. I was happy to get any shots.
What amazing photos. I’d never have know that was how it works.
As a cautionary tale, I’ve been caught in the web of hackers on my blog. Much of my work has been lost, at least for now. The salvage process is underway but I’m not sure of the final outcome. What I do know is the back ups I had are going to be my saving grace. I love reading your blog and seeing your wonderful photos so I’d urge you to back up if you haven’t already.
For a while I was going to give up and stop blogging but I’ve decided to start again with a new blog http://www.iwalkalone.co.uk.
Wow, great job catching the silk being extruded!
This reminds me of those guys at the airport that wrap bags in plastic by spinning them around as the plastic sheeting comes off the roll.
That’s a great analogy, Sue. It was incredible to watch as the spider spun around the bee as it was wrapping the prey–it was almost like it was on a rotisserie.
[…] special kind of silk that looks like a long gauze bandage. (Check out my 2014 posting called “Wrapping up a meal” for a more detailed explanation and some close-up shots of the wrapping […]
[…] to get a better look at how the spider emits these sheets of silk, check out a 2014 posting called Wrapping up a meal. If you have every wrapped presents at Christmas time, you know how difficult it is to wrap an […]