The toughest recorded spider egg case silks are woven into composites with tear-resistant architectures

摘要

In this communication, we report important preliminary evidence for possibly the toughest egg case silk threads recorded to date spun by the hermit spider, Nephilengys cruentata ((G) over bar =193 MJm(-3)). We further elucidate that the egg case itself is woven with a specialised repeat cross-weave that when subjected to tension, drives perpendicular-to-force threads to pile. This piling of threads constrains damage to small areas and retains the architectural integrity of the surrounding egg case material. We deduce that by having ultra-tough threads coupled to a tear resistant architecture, N. cruentata is able to protect its eggs from predators with a considerable level of effectiveness. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.