Ask anything.

How do spiders make their webs so neat?

Spiders spin their webs by instinct, which means it is knowledge they are born with, and their bodies help them too.

Spiders do not learn how to spin webs from anyone. This knowledge is already in their brain when they are born, just like birds know how to build nests. When a spider starts making a web, it first throws out a strong frame thread, then pulls neat lines from the middle out to the edges.

A spider's legs are very sensitive. When it pulls each thread, it feels the distance and the tightness with its legs. This is how the threads end up evenly spaced, making the web look symmetrical. The spider does not measure with a ruler, but its body works just like a measuring tool.

Spiders have special glands in their belly that make silk. These glands make threads of different thickness and stickiness. This is how the web ends up with both a strong frame and a sticky part that catches flies.

Quick facts

Spiders know how to spin webs from birth, without learning it from anyone.
Silk comes out as a liquid from glands in a spider's belly and hardens in the air.
A spider feels the tightness and distance of a thread with its legs.
Some threads in the web make a strong frame, and others make a sticky trap.
A spider's web is also used to feel the shaking made when food falls into it.
Every kind of spider can spin its web in a different way.

Check what you remember

3 questions — all of them come from the quick facts above. There is no score and no wrong turn.

1. Where do spiders learn how to spin webs?

2. Where does a spider's silk come from?

3. What does a spider use to feel the distance of a thread?

Where this comes from

1 tr.wikipedia.org 88/100
Spider web - Wikipedia
A page that explains directly how spider webs are made.
2 tr.wikipedia.org 85/100
Spider - Wikipedia
A reliable encyclopedia page that explains the general features of spiders in a simple way.
3 britannica.com 80/100
Spider | Britannica
A reliable encyclopedia source that explains how spiders make silk and spin webs.

🕸️

How Is Silk Made?

Silk comes out as a liquid from special glands in the spider's belly. As soon as it touches the air, it hardens into a thread. This silk is much thinner than steel, but it is amazingly strong.

🧠

What Is Instinct?

Instinct is a behaviour an animal knows from birth, without learning it. Birds migrating and fish swimming are also instinct. Baby spiders know how to spin webs as soon as they hatch from their eggs.

🪰

The Job of the Web

A spider's web is a trap. When flying insects get stuck on the sticky threads, they cannot escape. The spider feels the shaking and rushes over to catch its food.

🔄

Different Kinds of Webs

Not every spider spins the same web. Some make round webs, some make funnel-shaped webs, and some make webs that look messy. The shape of the web depends on the kind of spider.

ReKid™ is not just a search

The answer to the question is checked for accuracy before it is shown
An age-appropriate explanation of the topic, written to be read
A set of short facts about the topic
A set of short facts on subjects connected to the topic
A short quiz built from the topic, the facts and the connected facts
Up to five safe recommended links about the topic
PDF export, and every topic searched is kept
Everything from earlier keys carries over to a new key, complete
No advertising
No tracking
A knowledge support set that needs no personal account

Get a key at getrekid.com I have a key