The Absence of Gumfoot Threads in Webs of Early Juveniles and Adult Males of<i>Physocyclus globosus</i>(Pholcidae) is not Associated with Spigot Morphology

Escalante, Ignacio; Masís-Calvo, Marianela

doi:10.13156/arac.2014.16.6.214

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Pre-nymph spiderlings remain close to their mothers after hatching, and, after ~ 10 days, spiderlings molt to the first instar, disperse to build webs, and begin to capture prey 17 . Web-building behavior, and likely prey capture, varies across instars of P. globosus 31 , 33 . In total, there are 7–9 instars until adulthood in this species 31 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We began trials 10 days after placing spiderlings in their individual cups. During this period, the spiderlings molted to the first instar and built their first prey capture webs 33 . By using spiderlings in their first instar and across the molt to the second instar, we ensured that we fully controlled their early experience with prey—we can be certain that they had no prior experience capturing prey outside our treatments.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Heuristic test reveals little effect of learning and maturation on early prey capture experiences in a web-building spider

Rittinger,

Rodríguez,

Escalante

2024

Sci Rep

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Behaviors can vary throughout an animal’s life and this variation can often be explained by changes associated with learning and/or maturing. Currently, there is little consensus regarding how these processes interact to affect behaviors. Here we proposed a heuristic approach to disentangle the effects of learning and maturation on behavior and applied it to the predatory behaviors of Physocyclus globosus spiderlings. We varied the degree of prey difficulty and familiarity spiderlings received along the first instar and across the molt to the second instar and quantified the time spiderlings spent wrapping prey, as a proxy for prey capture efficiency. We found no overall evidence for learning or maturation. Changes in efficiency were mainly due to the switch from difficult to easy prey, or vice versa. However, there was one treatment where spiderlings improved in efficiency before and after the molt, without a switch in prey type. This provides some indication that difficult prey may offer more opportunity for learning or maturation to impact behavior. Although we found little effect of learning or maturation on prey capture efficiency, we suggest that our heuristic approach is effective and could be useful in investigating these processes in other behaviors and other animals.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heuristic test reveals little effect of learning and maturation on early prey capture experiences in a web-building spider

Rittinger,

Rodríguez,

Escalante

2024

Sci Rep

Self Cite

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“…These sex-specific behavioral differences affect the silk types a spider uses. For instance, as males move from place to place, they produce draglines or safety lines (made of major and minor ampullate silk) and attachment silk (pyriform silk) to travel on and secure themselves ( Escalante and Masís-Calvo 2014 ; Correa-Garhwal et al 2017 ). Moreover, T. clavipes males lack the morphological apparatus to produce silks related to web construction such as aggregate and flagelliform silk spigots ( Moore 1977 ; Murphy and Roberts 2015 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Golden orb-weaving spider (Trichonephila clavipes) silk genes with sex-biased expression and atypical architectures

Correa-Garhwal

Babb

Voight

et al. 2020

G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics

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Spider silks are renowned for their high-performance mechanical properties. Contributing to these properties are proteins encoded by the spidroin (spider fibroin) gene family. Spidroins have been discovered mostly through cDNA studies of females based on the presence of conserved terminal regions and a repetitive central region. Recently, genome sequencing of the golden orb-web weaver, Trichonephila clavipes, provided a complete picture of spidroin diversity. Here, we refine the annotation of T. clavipes spidroin genes including the reclassification of some as non-spidroins. We rename these non-spidroins as spidroin-like (SpL) genes because they have repetitive sequences and amino acid compositions like spidroins, but entirely lack the archetypal terminal domains of spidroins. Insight into the function of these spidroin and SpL genes was then examined through tissue- and sex-specific gene expression studies. Using qPCR, we show that some silk genes are upregulated in male silk glands compared to females, despite males producing less silk in general. We also find that an enigmatic spidroin that lacks a spidroin C-terminal domain is highly expressed in silk glands, suggesting that spidroins could assemble into fibers without a canonical terminal region. Further, we show that two SpL genes are expressed in silk glands, with one gene highly evolutionarily conserved across species, providing evidence that particular SpL genes are important to silk production. Together, these findings challenge long-standing paradigms regarding the evolutionary and functional significance of the proteins and conserved motifs essential for producing spider silks.

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“…Prey capture behaviour in P. phalangioides exhibits a number of striking similarities with that of very distantly related cobweb spiders (basal branch of Theridiidae, which includes species such as the black widows, Latrodectus spp.). Both groups build three-dimensional space webs, which are composed of an aerial tangle and vertical lines, some of which may be coated with a strip of viscid silk close to the substrate-so-called gumfoot threads [10][11][12]. While the aerial tangle may stop small flying insects, the gumfoot threads are used to trap running prey, such as ants.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

From fibres to adhesives: evolution of spider capture threads from web anchors by radical changes in silk gland function

Wolff,

Ashley,

Schmitt

et al. 2024

J. R. Soc. Interface.

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Spider webs that serve as snares are one of the most fascinating and abundant type of animal architectures. In many cases they include an adhesive coating of silk lines—so-called viscid silk—for prey capture. The evolutionary switch from silk secretions forming solid fibres to soft aqueous adhesives remains an open question in the understanding of spider silk evolution. Here we functionally and chemically characterized the secretions of two types of silk glands and their behavioural use in the cellar spider, Pholcus phalangioides. Both being derived from the same ancestral gland type that produces fibres with a solidifying glue coat, the two types produce respectively a quickly solidifying glue applied in thread anchorages and prey wraps, or a permanently tacky glue deployed in snares. We found that the latter is characterized by a high concentration of organic salts and reduced spidroin content, showing up a possible pathway for the evolution of viscid properties by hygroscopic-salt-mediated hydration of solidifying adhesives. Understanding the underlying molecular basis for such radical switches in material properties not only helps to better understand the evolutionary origins and versatility of ecologically impactful spider web architectures, but also informs the bioengineering of spider silk-based products with tailored properties.

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The Absence of Gumfoot Threads in Webs of Early Juveniles and Adult Males ofPhysocyclus globosus(Pholcidae) is not Associated with Spigot Morphology

Cited by 4 publications

References 24 publications

Heuristic test reveals little effect of learning and maturation on early prey capture experiences in a web-building spider

Heuristic test reveals little effect of learning and maturation on early prey capture experiences in a web-building spider

Golden orb-weaving spider (Trichonephila clavipes) silk genes with sex-biased expression and atypical architectures

From fibres to adhesives: evolution of spider capture threads from web anchors by radical changes in silk gland function

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