Spiders use their webs as giant hearing aids to amplify audio vibrations through their legs

Spiders use their webs as giant hearing aids to amplify audio vibrations through their legs, a new study has revealed.

Researchers from Binghampton University set out to understand how orb-weaving spiders – the famous species featured in “Charlotte’s Web” – detect sounds.

They found that the spiders used their webs as extended auditory networks to pick up sounds, which then vibrated through their legs.

This technique could give spiders advance warning of the arrival of prey or predators, according to the team.

Previous studies have shown that when something vibrates their web, spiders react quickly.

However, in their new study, the team showed for the first time that spiders also turn, crouch or flatten in response to sounds in the air.

The same way we use our eardrums, spiders detect tiny vibrations through sensory organs at the end of their legs.

Orb-weaver spiders are known to make large webs, creating an enormous sound-sensitive surface that is up to 10,000 times larger than the spider itself.

To test the acoustic properties of the web, the researchers asked orb weavers to weave a web inside a frame in a completely soundproof room.

Once the web was built, the researchers broadcast pure sound 9.8 feet (three meters) away, to see if the spiders would react or not.

Amazingly, the team found that the spiders reacted to sound at levels as low as 68 decibels.

They then placed the sound source at a 45 degree angle, to see if this affected the spiders’ behavior, and found that the animals could tell where the sound was coming from with 100% accuracy.

Using lasers, the team confirmed that the web vibrates over a wide range of frequencies.

Professor Ron Miles, who led the study, said: “Of course the real question is if the web is moving like this, does the spider intend to use it.” This is a difficult question to answer.

By squatting and stretching, spiders can change the tension of the web, helping them tune into different frequencies, researchers say.

This suggests that spiders might be able to customize their web to hear certain sounds.

“It’s reasonable to assume that a similar spider on a similar web would react in the same way,” said Prof Miles.

By squatting and stretching, spiders can change the tension of the web, helping them tune into different frequencies, researchers say.

“But we can’t draw any conclusions about that, since we tested a certain type of spider that happens to be quite common.”

As well as improving our understanding of spider behavior, the researchers suggest the findings could aid in the invention of new microphone designs.

‘The spider really is a natural demonstration that this is a viable way to detect sound using viscous forces in the air on thin fibers,’ Prof Miles added.

“If it works in nature, maybe we should take a closer look.”