Trichonephela clavipes, or The Golden Silk Orb-weaver, may be huge but they look a lot tougher than they act. They’re not aggressive and only bite if handled roughly, and they’re super clumsy outside of their web!
If you listen to the podcast, you might remember us discussing these with @shakiguani on Tainted Love Part 2!
A single thread of the anchor silk has a tensile strength of 4×109 N/m2, which exceeds that of steel by a factor of 8, which is insane!
This little critter has recently been investigated to evaluate its usefulness in surgically improving mammalian neuronal regeneration. In vitro experiments showed that a filament of the silk can lead a severed neuron through the body to the site from which it was severed.
