Spinneret

A spinneret is a spider's silk-spinning organ. It is usually on the underside of a spider's abdomen, to the rear. Most spiders have six spinnerets; some have four or two. They move independently and in concert to build webs.

The discovery of spinnerets on the feet of the "Aphonopelma seemanni" has led to questions about the origins of spinnerets. It has been hypothesised that spinnerets were originally used as climbing aids on the feet and evolved for webmaking at a later time. [cite journal | first = SN | last = Gorb | coauthors = Niederegger S, Hayashi CY, Summers AP, Votsch W, Walther P | year = 2006 | month = Sep 28 | title = Biomaterials: silk-like secretion from tarantula feet | journal = Nature | volume = 443 | issue = 7110 | pages = 407 | pmid = 17006505 | accessdate = 2006-10-23 | doi = 10.1038/443407a]

Other uses of the word

Spinneret also refers to a multi-pored device through which a plastic polymer melt is extruded to form fibers. Streams of viscous polymer usually exit into cool air or liquid to solidify. [ [http://www.fibersource.com/f-tutor/techpag.htm Fibersource.com] ] The individual polymer chains tend to align in the fiber because of viscous flow. This airstream liquid-to-fiber formation process is similar to the production process for cotton candy. The process may be referred to as Gel spinning or Polymer spinning. [UHMWPE]

External links

* [http://www.astrographics.com/GalleryPrintsIndex/GP2017.html Electron microsope image of spider spinnerets]
* [http://www.fibersource.com/f-tutor/techpag.htm Pictures of industrial spinnerets and description of polymer spinning]

References