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Figure 1

From: Free-standing spider silk webs of the thomisid Saccodomus formivorus are made of composites comprising micro- and submicron fibers

Figure 1

Morphological features of the silk of the web of S. formivorus. (a) Photograph of the entire basket web. (b) Water droplets on the web indicate high water contact angles. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of (c) the upper and (e) the lower web sections originating from the zones marked in (a). (d, f) SEM images of marked sections in (c,e) (arrowheads indicate the presence of microfibers, asterisks show accumulated submicron fibers). (g) SEM image of a single protruding spider silk thread as marked in (a). The inset shows a light microscopic image of a protruding thread. (h) SEM micrograph of the thread cross-section comprising several microfibers embedded in a submicron fiber matrix (arrowhead indicates a microfiber cross-section, asterisk shows accumulated submicron fiber cross-sections). (i) Micrograph of the lower web section showing several hatched eggs. (j) Nonwoven-like sheet, which horizontally covered the eggs shown in (i). (k) SEM image of the nonwoven-like sheet as marked in (j).

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