Russell Grigg, age 11, of Gastonia, N.C., for his question:

Where does a spider get her web material?

The spider's web material is homemade, in small glands near the tail end of her abdomen. Her clever little body manufactures a clear, rather tacky liquid from well digested insect food. Six or so small faucets are attached to the glands. The faucets are called spinnerets and she can turn them on or off as she chooses.

When she gets ready to spin her web, she squirts thin streams of the tacky material through her spinnerets. In the air, it dries almost at once and becomes a very thin thread of finest silk. Her filmy web is a work of art, and she builds the whole thing in about an hour. The cross threads that support the web are made of thicker, stronger silk. The long spiral thread that forms the net is made of her finest silk.