In a study, researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Rupnagar, have explored how prey is caught and retained by a healthy spider web when compared with a damaged one. The study, published in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, was featured under the theme 'Bioinspired materials and surfaces for green science and technology'. The researchers studied the webs of St Andrew's Cross spider (Argiope aetherea), which builds orb-webs and belongs to the Araneidae family.
The strictly carnivorous Pallid and Montagu's Harriers are confirmed to be crucial secondary seed dispersers in India, rescuing viable seeds from the digestive tracts of their prey and playing an important role in maintaining the biodiversity of threatened grassland ecosystems.