Madagascar’s Darwin Bark Spider (Caerostris darwini) spins the largest and strongest of webs.
The webbing is ten times stronger than Kevlar, the substance used for reinforcing bulletproof vests, making it the strongest known biological substance. The spiders cast strands of the webbing into the wind, allowing it to be carried as far as 80 feet away before anchoring to something solid on the other side.
The bark spider uses this strong webbing and innovative construction technique to extend webs across rivers, covering as much as 30 square feet, hanging from the 80-foot anchor lines. These webs are about as long as two city buses.
The webs are twice as strong as other orb spiders and are strong enough to catch a bird or bat.
Mind-Controlled Spiders and Zombie Ants
The influence happens so slowly that she isn’t even aware of her loss of free will. As the invading alien inside her grows and develops, it gradually assumes more and more control, until the host is nothing more than a mindless, zombie-like shell, obeying the orders of her parasitic controller. No, this is not the…
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Just How Many Spiders Do We Swallow In Our Sleep?
We all swallow eight spiders each year while we are sleeping. That’s a fact. It has to be, because it says so on the internet. Or maybe it isn’t a fact…. After all, the internet also says that rumor was started by a tongue-in-cheek article in a scientific magazine, and people have just accepted it…
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The Bodyguard Spider and the Pet Frog
Some people like to keep tarantulas as pets. Others might prefer to keep frogs. What would you say about a tarantula that keeps a frog as its pet? As strange as that may seem, it is actually quite common. Many varieties of tarantula have developed a special relationship with a tiny species of frog known…
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Commonplace Fun Facts 
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