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Spiders have been around for about 400 million years. They are about 170 centuries older than the first dinosaurs! The secret to their success is silk.
The first spiderwebs were probably just trip lines that warned when prey was trapped. The signal thread is a silk line that goes from a spider to the middle of its web. When something gets stuck, the spider can feel it moving. It jumps out and grabs the prey.
As more spider species evolved, more types of webs developed, too. And there are a lot we don’t know about. Scientists say tens of thousands of species could still be found! So the full tale of spiderwebs has yet to be spun.
