Theory 17/Biomaterials

Web Design Is Silk Against Capture

The claim

Orb web geometry is set by the ratio of silk investment to capture probability, so a spider under food stress builds a smaller web with wider spacing rather than a smaller copy.

01Mechanism

Silk is metabolically expensive and must be replaced; geometry trades thread density against the chance of intercepting prey.

02Predictions

P1Geometry should track the ratio.
P2Web area alone should mispredict.

03Refutation

Geometry tracking hunger would remove the cost term.

04Why it resists the grid

The web is an extended phenotype — a structure that computes, in the sense that its geometry embodies the animal's decision.