Taxonomic Variation Among Spiders in the Ability to Repel Water: Surface Adhesion and Hair Density

Suter, Robert B.; Stratton, Gail E.; Miller, Patricia R.

doi:10.1636/m02-74

Cited by 42 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Hairs arrange in grids varied from 3 mm to 1 mm center to center distance. Here noticed the maximum density of our samples is 1 hair/mm, in contrast to usually 20-60 hairs/mm in spiders [8]. Hair diameter of PBT bristles is 50-100 μm, in contrast to <10 μm in spider bristles.…”

Section: A Sample Preparationcontrasting

confidence: 52%

“…Super hydrophobic surface is referred to a surface with contact angle higher than 150°. For example, the cuticle of Dolomedes triton has a low surface energy of 0.115 J and its contact angle is 151.6°; hair density of Dolomedes triton at their legs is 45.115 hairs/mm [8]. This intriguing result inspired us to assess the feasibility of fabricating a similar surface for underwater instrument protection.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Preliminary development of a spider-inspired structure for underwater application

Menon

2011

2011 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics

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This paper introduces the preliminary results of developing a spider-inspired hydrophobic hairy structure for air shield forming underwater. A fabrication procedure is proposed for rapid production of samples in various hair densities. The samples can form dry islands in a puddle of water. Wetting tests are performed to confirm the importance of hair density and water kinetics. Further analysis of contact angle and wetting hysteresis indicates the mechanism of water breaking through the hair-arrays protection. Results of the preliminary study indicate the future development and promising applications in underwater electronics protection and adhesives integration.

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Section: A Sample Preparationcontrasting

confidence: 52%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preliminary development of a spider-inspired structure for underwater application

Menon

2011

2011 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics

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“…Nevertheless, leafhoppers attain water CAs well above the superhydrophobic threshold of 1508 by coating their integuments with brochosomes. Such water CAs are among the largest observed among animals [3,32,33,53] and plants [5,31]. What sets the superhydrophobic coat of brochosomes apart from such previously studied biological surfaces is that it is applied onto the body actively, on demand, during specialized behaviour [11,17,19,20] and is composed predominantly or exclusively of protein [11,14,15].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Brochosomal coats turn leafhopper (Insecta, Hemiptera, Cicadellidae) integument to superhydrophobic state

Rakitov

Gorb

2013

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Leafhoppers (Insecta, Hemiptera, Cicadellidae) actively coat their integuments with brochosomes, hollow proteinaceous spheres of usually 200-700 nm in diameter, with honeycombed walls. The coats have been previously suggested to act as a water-repellent and anti-adhesive protective barrier against the insect's own exudates. We estimated their wettability through contact angle (CA) measurements of water, diiodomethane, ethylene glycol and ethanol on detached wings of the leafhoppers Alnetoidia alneti, Athysanus argentarius and Cicadella viridis. Intact brochosome-coated integuments were repellent to all test liquids, except ethanol, and exhibited superhydrophobicity, with the average water CAs of 165-1728, and the apparent surface free energy (SFE) estimates not exceeding 0.74 mN m 21. By contrast, the integuments from which brochosomes were removed with a peeling technique using fluid polyvinylsiloxane displayed water CAs of only 103-1298 and SFEs above 20 mN m 21. Observations of water-sprayed wings in a cryo-scanning electron microscope confirmed that brochosomal coats prevented water from contacting the integument. Their superhydrophobic properties appear to result from fractal roughness, which dramatically reduces the area of contact with high-surface-tension liquids, including, presumably, leafhopper exudates.

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“…Although our results indicate no signifi cant diff erences regarding tolerance levels, probably due to similar morphological characteristics Suter et al, 2004 ) resulting from a common origin (cf. periodically disturbed ephemeral habitats; Marshall and Rypstra, 1999 ), behavioural responses of sympatrically occurring species are clearly divergent with pronounced eff ects of test year.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 45%

“…Th ese adaptations comprise a.o. adjusted dispersal power (Desender, 1989 ;Bonn, 2000 ;Bonte et al, 2003 ), benefi cial behavioural responses ( Joy and Pullin, 1997 ;Decleer, 2003 ;Pétillon et al, 2004 ) or specifi cally developed physiological tolerances (Hebets and Chapman, 2000 ;Messner and Adis, 2000 ;Suter et al, 2004 ). Previous studies indicated clear behavioural (Witteveen and Joosse, 1988;Borgioli et al, 1999) or eco-physiological responses (Hoback and Stanley, 2001 ) as induced by hypoxia or fl ooding.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plasticity in flood-avoiding behaviour in two congeneric riparian wolf spiders

2008

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Th e ecological eff ects of disrupted fl ooding are known to be pernicious for the occurring riparian fauna. As fl ooding disturbance is argued to structure species assemblages, behavioural aspects may be aff ected just as well. Generally, eurytopic inhabitants possess a well-developed dispersal ability allowing frequent recolonization, whereas specialized stenotopic species are expected to be adapted to these stress regimes. Th is study aims at determining whether fl ooding induces diff erent behavioural responses in two congeneric wolf spider species. Variation in fl ood-avoiding behaviour was evaluated by means of individual tests performed under diff erent ambient conditions. We considered sheltering behaviour preceding fl ooding, a direct fl ight refl ex induced by the fl ood event, an escape reaction away from the rising water and submersion tolerance. Our fi ndings indicated clear fl ood-avoiding behaviour for both species, yet a higher degree of plasticity in individual behaviour for a riparian wolf spider ( Pardosa agricola ) in contrast to a generalist species ( P. amentata ). Nonetheless the former species systematically reacted under diff erent ambient conditions, a generalist shifts responses, displaying a higher degree of between-individual variation. Submersion tolerance was equivalent, emphasizing similar morphological characteristics. We argue habitat specialization and/or experience with local conditions to infl uence behavioural responses in order to optimize long-term persistence under fl ood stress. Future studies of behavioural variation should consider temporal variation in species condition, thus employing distinct populations thriving under diff erent local stress regimes.

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Taxonomic Variation Among Spiders in the Ability to Repel Water: Surface Adhesion and Hair Density

Cited by 42 publications

References 14 publications

Preliminary development of a spider-inspired structure for underwater application

Preliminary development of a spider-inspired structure for underwater application

Brochosomal coats turn leafhopper (Insecta, Hemiptera, Cicadellidae) integument to superhydrophobic state

Plasticity in flood-avoiding behaviour in two congeneric riparian wolf spiders

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