Hence, this spider expends less energy catching prey than a primitive hunter and also avoids the energy loss of weaving a large orb web.
42.
The hubs of orb webs, where the spiders lurk, are usually above the center, as the spiders can move downwards faster than upwards.
43.
Horizontal orb webs are fairly common, despite being less effective at intercepting and retaining prey and more vulnerable to damage by rain and falling debris.
44.
A review in 2014 concluded that there is strong evidence that orb webs evolved only once, although only weak support for the monophyly of the Orbiculariae.
45.
Webs may be in a vertical plane ( most orb webs ), a horizontal plane ( sheet webs ), or at any angle in between.
46.
Fossil evidence shows that the orb web was in existence at this time, which permitted a concurrent radiation of the spider predators along with their insect prey.
47.
It is a nocturnal orb-web spider, the female constructing a large orb web some 1.5 metres across, stretching between trees or shrubs.
48.
When weather is good ( and no rain has damaged the orb web ), subadult and adult " Nephila " often rebuild only a portion of the web.
49.
Vollrath and Selden ( 2007 ) make the bold proposition that insect evolution was driven less by flowering plants than by spider predation particularly through orb webs as a major selective force.
50.
The ability to weave orb webs is thought to have been " lost ", and sometimes even re-evolved or evolved separately, in different breeds of spiders since its first appearance.
