Today, spider silk is attracting the attention of a range of researchers, including geneticists, protein biochemists, and materials scientists intent on understanding and replicating spider silk's unusual properties. Spider silk easily withstands low temperatures. The substance is a soluble fluid in the aqueous environment of a spider's abdomen, but it turns into an insoluble solid after it exits the body. Using webs Spiders use their silk in a variety of ways. Webs entice prey, silken nests enshroud eggs, and offspring tentatively venture from their webs, exploring beyond the nest yet still tethered to it by a lifeline.
Reproduction requires silk too.
A male weaves a small sperm web and deposits sperm onto it. He then transfers the web to his palps, which he uses to place the sperm web in a female's genital opening. Some species use silk in even more specialized ways. A species that lives in freshwater ponds throughout Europe weaves a diving bell of sorts. The animal anchors the balloonlike structure it creates to an aquatic plant and then submerges, ferrying air bubbles in the bell.