The bodies and legs of spiders are covered in tiny hairs and slits that allow them to make out every vibration on their web, whether it’s an insect that has just gotten caught in their nets or another spider that comes to court.
A few years ago, scientists worked in collaboration with the Argentinian artist Tomás Saraceno. Together they created a music instrument interactive named “Spider’s Canvas”. As the team of researchers points out, their study makes it possible to understand the three-dimensional architecture of spider webs, but also the vibrational language of these invertebrates.
“The spider lives in an environment of vibrating strings”, explains the engineer Markus Buehler du MIT à Phys.org. “She can’t see very well, so she senses the world through vibrations, which have different frequencies.” When we hear the words “spider’s web”, we tend to imagine a beautiful stretched web, round and flat. However, most are not of this type, but more built in three dimensions. One can observe leaf webs, entanglement webs and finally funnel webs.
For their research, the team placed a spider of the species Cyrtophora citricola –also called “Epeira de l’Opuntia”– in a rectangular enclosure. The eight-legged beast then filled the premises with three-dimensional canvas. Scientists then created high-definition images of 2D cross-sections of the newly established habitat.
strange music
An algorithm has been developed to reconstruct the architecture of the canvas in 3D. Each strand of this majestic construction has been assigned a frequency, with the aim of transforming the canvas into music. In this YouTube video posted by Markus Buehler, you can hear the notes generated by the patterns on the structure. The result is fascinating and terrifying, like the mistress of the place, the Cyrtophora citricola.
The authors of the project also scanned a canvas during its realization. They thus translated each step of this complex process into music. In the video below, we notice that the notes change as the web weaves.
Thanks to experience in virtual realitywe can observe the process of creation, but also feel the vibrations that the spider perceives. “By hearing it and seeing it at the same time, you can really begin to understand the environment the spider lives in”explains the engineer.
This recording has also allowed science to better understand how spiders weave without structure or support. “If we expose them to certain patterns of rhythms or vibrations, can we affect what they do and can we communicate with them? interrogates Markus Buehler. These are really exciting ideas.”