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January 19, 2026<\/p>\n
2 min read<\/p>\n
Add Us On Google<\/span>Add SciAm<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n These spiders weave themselves giant doppelg\u00e4ngers to scare away predators<\/p>\n Spiders scare off predators by seemingly supersizing themselves<\/p>\n By Gennaro Tomma edited by Sarah Lewin Frasier<\/span><\/p>\n This spiderweb structure presents the illusion of an intimidating bigger spider.<\/p>\n What\u2019s scarier than a spider? A really big spider, of course. A newfound defensive tactic takes advantage of this idea: researchers documented spiders building giant spiderlike silhouettes on their webs to ward off predators.<\/p>\n These decoys are an example of \u201cweb decorations\u201d that some spiders are known to produce, often to prevent getting eaten, avoid bird strikes or attract prey. Such ornaments come in many shapes and sizes, but this is the first time scientists have documented spider-shaped decor.<\/p>\n From 2012 to 2022 a research team collected observations of these unusual webs in Peru, the Philippines and Madagascar, focusing on about 300 individuals from the genus Cyclosa that are typically only a few millimeters long. The researchers published their findings in Ecology and Evolution.<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n The spider doppelg\u00e4ngers are made of prey carcasses, plant debris, and other organic materials. They have a central structure from which \u201clegs\u201d branch out. The team proposes that the constructions serve primarily as a defense from predators such as hummingbirds or helicopter damselflies. But different species might use them in different ways.<\/p>\n In Peru, the spiders seem to use the decoys \u201cas puppets,\u201d says study co-author Phillip Torres, an entomologist and television host. \u201cThey will be on the top of the figure, and they shake the web, so they are pretending to be a bigger spider.\u201d Small predators might be scared by a larger spider, and predators that specialize in eating the real, smaller arachnid might want to avoid a supersized one. In the Philippines, the spiders seem to instead hide inside the structure and wait for the predator to go away.<\/p>\n Dinesh Rao, an ecologist at Veracruzana University in Mexico, who wasn\u2019t involved in the study, emphasizes that figuring out the constructions\u2019 precise function requires more research: \u201cYou need either careful observations or experimental conditions where you actually look at how [predators] respond to these structtures.\u201d<\/p>\n If you enjoyed this article, I\u2019d like to ask for your support. Scientific American<\/span> has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been a Scientific American<\/span> subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm <\/span>always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.<\/p>\n If you subscribe to Scientific American<\/span>, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.<\/p>\n In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can’t-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world’s best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.<\/p>\n There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you\u2019ll support us in that mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" January 19, 2026 2 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm These spiders weave themselves giant doppelg\u00e4ngers to scare away predators Spiders scare off predators by seemingly supersizing themselves By Gennaro Tomma edited by Sarah Lewin Frasier This spiderweb structure presents the illusion of an intimidating bigger spider. What\u2019s scarier than a spider? A really<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[1512,22276,1870,19203,7671,9057,10755],"class_list":{"0":"post-42101","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-build","9":"tag-decoys","10":"tag-giant","11":"tag-predators","12":"tag-scare","13":"tag-spiders","14":"tag-webs"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}On supporting science journalism<\/h2>\n
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