The Biology of . . . Spider Silk

Up on the roof of the zoology building, Fritz Vollrath pushes open the door of a small greenhouse and walks in. Tupperware containers full of maggots and decomposing fruit are scattered on every available surface, and the thick and sickly smell of rot fills Vollrath's nostrils. But he ignores these signs that all is well: "It's too hot," he says. Not for the palm by the door or the tall cactus, but for the distinguished architects who are hanging out in the upper corners. Most of them are a species of Nephila, the golden silk spider. The species has an inch-long abdomen, greenish-black with yellow markings, and eight long, delicate legs. Nephila are orb weavers, and the silk orbs they have woven in Vollrath's "spider house" are thick with the flies he intended for them. But the spiders themselves are looking a bit sluggish. Vollrath opens a window to cool ...