Spiders Don't Have Ears, But They Can Boost Their 'Hearing' Through Giant Webs

Spider webs can be used as giant hearing aids for the arachnids that spin them, according to new research.

Spiders don't have ears, but they can hear through their legs.

The researchers used a collection of orb-weaver spiders, known for making large webs, for their experiments, getting them to produce webs inside rectangular frames in the lab that could be put through a series of tests.

The orb web acts as a hyperacute acoustic antenna to capture the sound of air particle movements, according to the researchers.

A web is responding to sound waves. Binghamton University.

A room designed to minimize sound wave reflections was used to measure the response of spider web silk to music. The webs moved in perfect unison with the sound, potentially capturing the audio as it hits.

When the sounds of different frequencies and directions were tested with the webs, they got related responses from the spiders, who typically turned, crouched, or flattened out in response. The spiders oriented themselves towards the location of the sound.

Some of the spiders responded to the sound of the speakers vibrating even when it had not reached them through the air, and the sounds traveled further through the webs than through the air.

It is not clear whether or not the spiders are using this information.

Spiders are able to hunt in packs by using web vibrations that pass through the sensory organs on the tarsal claws at the tip of spider legs. In this case, they are responding to something when the sound waves hit, but more research is needed to figure out how the spiders are processing this information.

There could be a hidden ear within the spider body that we don't know about, according to mechanical engineer Junpeng Lai.

The way that silk threads respond to sound waves is different from how eardrums respond, according to a new study.

Humans and most other animals have ears that turn sound waves into electrical signals. The web might be a replacement for the eardrums of insects and arthropods.

The spiders might be tuning the web strings to pick up different audio frequencies through their movements. Improvements to audio equipment that could benefit from some natural inspiration are one of the possibilities that researchers can explore.

The spider is a good example of how sound can be sense using forces in the air on thin fibers.

If it works in nature, maybe we should have a closer look at it.

The research has been published.