Cobwebs contain Valuable Information about Spider and its Prey

Who wants to see spider traps in their homes? When we see cobwebs, we clean them without even thinking once. But, a new study revealed these messy spider lairs could be important. They may have precious information for researchers.

Study researchers have found that cobwebs may contain DNA of the creature and its prey. These samples of DNA can be sequenced and amplified for analysis, as per the study. The researchers said an empty spider trap doesn’t always mean empty. It could reveal what kind of spider made the web and who was the unlucky prey, they added.

Lead author of the study Charles C.Y. Xu said information from cobwebs can be used in many fields. There are a number of ways to study spiders, said the lead researcher. “But genetic sequencing, which is becoming less expensive, enables new methods of collecting information about spiders and their prey -- methods that don't involve chasing, capturing or killing these critters”, as per Xu.

To conduct the study, the researchers examined three webs of black widow spiders. They give two crickets to every spider. After some days, they removed the webs and studied them in a lab. Xu said they wanted to study DNA from the webs. For that, they used primers, which are single-stranded DNA fragments.

According to the researchers, DNA barcoding is not a new process. It has been used many times in the past, but it was the first time when the process was used to identify spiders, they added.