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Updated: May 4, 2026

Microdissection of Black Widow Spider Silk-producing Glands
Published on: January 11, 2011
Brown recluse spider's nanometer scale ribbons of stiff extensible silk
Hannes C Schniepp1, Sean R Koebley, Fritz Vollrath
1Department of Applied Science, The College of William & Mary, PO Box 8795, Williamsburg, VA, 23187, USA.
Abstract:
The silk of the recluse spider features a ribbon-like morphology unlike any other spider silk or synthetically spun polymer fiber. These protein ribbons represent free-standing polymer films with a thickness of about 50 nm. Stress-strain characterization of individual fibers via atomic force microscopy reveals that these ribbons, only a few molecular layers of protein thin, rival the mechanical performance of the best silks.
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