Change of mechanical characteristics in spider silk capture threads after contact with prey

Baumgart, Lucas; Schaa, Eva-Marie; Menzel, Florian; Joel, Anna-Christin

doi:10.1016/j.actbio.2022.09.056

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…The species U. walckenaerius differs from other spiders; their webs contain trap wool or cribellate fibers instead of adhesive droplets [26,27]. These spiders catch their prey by trapping them in these fibers.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Web Structure and Silk Spinning Apparatus Morphology of <i>Uloborus walckenaerius</i> Latreille 1806 (Araneae, Uloboridae) Spider

Çorak Öcal,

Yiğit Kayhan,

Aktaş

2024

Pol. J. Environ. Stud.

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The web-building skills of spiders made them strong from the evolutionary aspect. Spider webs are used in hunting, building nests, setting traps, and movement. The structure of web architecture, that of adhesive materials being produced, and that of cribellate offer important clues in order to understand their hunting behaviors. Spiders have different silk-spinning apparatuses, allowing them to produce different types of silk fibrils. While some spider species rely on webs for survival in nature, others can survive without them. Even though basic taxonomic features remain constant, the silk-spinning apparatuses of spiders might be subjected to adaptive variations. In the present study, the structural organization of the silk-spinning apparatus and the web architecture of the web-maker spider Uloborus walckenaerius Latreille, 1806 were observed by making use of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The web structure of U. walckenaerius, the characteristics of the spinnerets, especially the posterior spinneret, and the arrangement of the spigots are reported in this study. Adaptations of the silk-spinning apparatus, which has provided an evolutionary success to U. walckenaerius, were also analyzed. It was determined that the web structure consisted of very fine nanofibers and, differing from other groups, there also were crimped silk fibrils.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Web Structure and Silk Spinning Apparatus Morphology of <i>Uloborus walckenaerius</i> Latreille 1806 (Araneae, Uloboridae) Spider

Çorak Öcal,

Yiğit Kayhan,

Aktaş

2024

Pol. J. Environ. Stud.

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“…It has been shown that some hair and scale-like surface features of the prey's cuticle highly reduce the stickiness of cribellar silk [ 49 ]. In addition, cribellar silk has been shown to interact with wax coatings on insect cuticles to form an adhesive bond [ 50 ], which simultaneously stiffens the threads, which may inadvertently help active prey to break free [ 51 ]. High sprint speed is advantageous in such situations in which the web's capacity to immobilize the prey is compromised, as the spider has to move fast to prevent the quick escape of the prey for successful prey capture.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic evolution of locomotor performance independent of changes in extended phenotype use in spiders

Kelly,

Khan,

Wierucka

et al. 2023

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Many animals use self-built structures (extended phenotypes) to enhance body functions, such as thermoregulation, prey capture or defence. Yet, it is unclear whether the evolution of animal constructions supplements or substitutes body functions—with disparate feedbacks on trait evolution. Here, using brown spiders (Araneae: marronoid clade), we explored if the evolutionary loss and gain of silken webs as extended prey capture devices correlates with alterations in traits known to play an important role in predatory strikes—locomotor performance (sprint speed) and leg spination (expression of capture spines on front legs). We found that in this group high locomotor performance, with running speeds of over 100 body lengths per second, evolved repeatedly—both in web-building and cursorial spiders. There was no correlation with running speed, and leg spination only poorly correlated, relative to the use of extended phenotypes, indicating that web use does not reduce selective pressures on body functions involved in prey capture and defence per se . Consequently, extended prey capture devices serve as supplements rather than substitutions to body traits and may only be beneficial in conjunction with certain life-history traits, possibly explaining the rare evolution and repeated loss of trapping strategies in predatory animals.

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“…The results are puffs of hundreds of nanofibres acting like an adhesive mass, that is, attached to a carrier thread composed of straight axial lines and (usually) coiled or undulating fibres [14]. These composite cribellar threads adhere through a dry adhesion mechanism based on van der Waals forces, hygroscopic forces [16], and through the interaction with the viscous secretion covering insect prey surfaces [17,18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hierarchical looping results in extreme extensibility of silk fibre composites produced by Southern house spiders ( Kukulcania hibernalis )

Liprandi,

Ramírez,

Schlüter

et al. 2024

Interface Focus.

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Spider silk is a tough and versatile biological material combining high tensile strength and extensibility through nanocomposite structure and its nonlinear elastic behaviour. Notably, spiders rarely use single silk fibres in isolation, but instead process them into more complex composites, such as silk fibre bundles, sheets and anchorages, involving a combination of spinneret, leg and body movements. While the material properties of single silk fibres have been extensively studied, the mechanical properties of silk composites and meta-structures are poorly understood and exhibit a hereto largely untapped potential for the bio-inspired design of novel fabrics with outstanding mechanical properties. In this study, we report on the tensile mechanics of the adhesive capture threads of the Southern house spider ( Kukulcania hibernalis ), which exhibit extreme extensibility, surpassing that of the viscid capture threads of orb weavers by up to tenfold. By combining high-resolution mechanical testing, microscopy and in silico experiments based on a hierarchical modified version of the Fibre Bundle Model, we demonstrate that extreme extensibility is based on a hierarchical loops-on-loops structure combining linear and coiled elements. The stepwise unravelling of the loops leads to the repeated fracture of the connected linear fibres, delaying terminal failure and enhancing energy absorption. This principle could be used to achieve tailored fabrics and materials that are able to sustain high deformation without failure.

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Change of mechanical characteristics in spider silk capture threads after contact with prey

Cited by 4 publications

References 47 publications

Web Structure and Silk Spinning Apparatus Morphology of <i>Uloborus walckenaerius</i> Latreille 1806 (Araneae, Uloboridae) Spider

Web Structure and Silk Spinning Apparatus Morphology of <i>Uloborus walckenaerius</i> Latreille 1806 (Araneae, Uloboridae) Spider

Dynamic evolution of locomotor performance independent of changes in extended phenotype use in spiders

Hierarchical looping results in extreme extensibility of silk fibre composites produced by Southern house spiders ( Kukulcania hibernalis )

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