Monday 6 September 2021

Spider Silk Garments?

Female Golden orb web spiders produce copious amounts of yellow silk. A team of 80 men and women were tasked with collecting two million spiders from the highlands of Madagascar. The silk produced by the individually-housed spiders, was then harvested over 8 years (https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/sep/06/eight-years-and-2m-arachnids-later-spider-silk-fabrics-go-on-show-in-london). Although the silk obtained was very attractive, there was only sufficient to produce four garments. Three of these, two shawls and a lamba (a traditional Madagascan garment), are on show in London. There is quite a way to go, before this could be deemed a cost-effective way of producing new textiles.

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What's In a Critter's Name? 11. Comma butterfly

The Comma butterfly ( Polygonia c-album) gets its name from the punctuation-like mark, on the underside of its wings.