First published online January 31, 2007
Journal of Experimental Biology 210, 553-560 (2007)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2007
doi: 10.1242/jeb.02682
Adhesive recruitment by the viscous capture threads of araneoid orb-weaving spiders
Brent D. Opell* and
Mary L. Hendricks
Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and
State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA

View larger version (60K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
|
Fig. 1. Viscous capture threads of (from top to bottom) Leucauge venusta,
Metepeira labyrinthea, Araneus pegnia, and Araneus marmoreus.
Scale bar, 100 µm.
|
|

View larger version (9K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
|
Fig. 2. Models of cribellar and viscous capture threads under a load showing how
the greater elasticity of the axial fibers of viscous threads and the
plasticity of viscous droplets allow viscous threads to form more acute angles
with a contacting surface and, thereby, to direct a higher proportion of force
perpendicular to a force pulling on the thread.
|
|

View larger version (26K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
|
Fig. 3. Thread samplers, the instrument used to measure thread stickiness, and the
interchangeable contact plates used with this instrument.
|
|

View larger version (28K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
|
Fig. 5. Stickiness (means ± 1 s.e.m.) measured with four plate widths and,
from top to bottom below each genus name, the sample size, number of thread
droplets per mm (means ± 1 s.e.m.), and mean droplet volume
(µm3x102 ± 1 s.e.m.).
|
|

View larger version (6K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
|
Fig. 6. Relationship between the percent increase in the number of droplets
contacting plates of increasing widths and the percent change in the mean
droplet adhesion of the longer strands contacting these successively wider
plates.
|
|

View larger version (36K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
|
Fig. 7. Models showing the distribution of adhesion among the droplets of six
species' threads contacting plates of 930 µm and 2133 µm widths.
|
|

CiteULike
Complore
Connotea
Del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
Technorati
Twitter What's this?
© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2007