(pilt: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aussiegall/2083489046/)
Some spiders decorate their own webs with even more elaborate and complex patterns than are necessary. Could they be the best exterior designers on the planet? Certainly from the look of these examples, they would be in the competition but the verdict is still out as to why they produce these extra web configurations. Some scientists argue that it is nothing more than ’spidey’ aesthetics.
As a certain Miss Aniston used to say, here is the science. The structures are known as web decorations but the more scientific name for one is stabilimentum. In the plural they are known as stabilimenta and the name came about because of a mistake. When first studied the decorations were believed to be used in stabilizing the web of a spider – and there you have the term stabilimentum – get it? However, this theory is generally dismissed these days – although it is obvious to one and all why early scientists may have thought this.
loe edasi - http://scienceray.com/biology/zoology/the-spiders-that-decorate-their-own-webs/
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