The physiology of the spider vibration receptor

Walcott, Charles D.; Kloot, William G. Van der

doi:10.1002/jez.1401410202

Cited by 74 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…This may allow them to detect and discriminate potential nearby prey and predators (22,23), which is different from the well-known substrate-borne information transmission induced by animals making direct contact with the silk (24)(25)(26)(27).…”

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 87%

Sensing fluctuating airflow with spider silk

Zhou

Miles

2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The ultimate aim of flow sensing is to represent the perturbations of the medium perfectly. Hundreds of millions of years of evolution resulted in hair-based flow sensors in terrestrial arthropods that stand out among the most sensitive biological sensors known, even better than photoreceptors which can detect a single photon (10 −18 -10 −19 J) of visible light. These tiny sensory hairs can move with a velocity close to that of the surrounding air at frequencies near their mechanical resonance, despite the low viscosity and low density of air. No man-made technology to date demonstrates comparable efficiency. Here we show that nanodimensional spider silk captures fluctuating airflow with maximum physical efficiency (V silk /V air ∼ 1) from 1 Hz to 50 kHz, providing an effective means for miniaturized flow sensing. Our mathematical model shows excellent agreement with experimental results for silk with various diameters: 500 nm, 1.6 μm, and 3 μm. When a fiber is sufficiently thin, it can move with the medium flow perfectly due to the domination of forces applied to it by the medium over those associated with its mechanical properties. These results suggest that the aerodynamic property of silk can provide an airborne acoustic signal to a spider directly, in addition to the wellknown substrate-borne information. By modifying a spider silk to be conductive and transducing its motion using electromagnetic induction, we demonstrate a miniature, directional, broadband, passive, low-cost approach to detect airflow with full fidelity over a frequency bandwidth that easily spans the full range of human hearing, as well as that of many other mammals.spider silk | airborne motion | flow sensing | acoustics | nanodimensional fiber M iniaturized flow sensing with high spatial and temporal resolution is crucial for numerous applications, such as high-resolution flow mapping (1), controlled microfluidic systems (2), unmanned microaerial vehicles (3-5), boundary-layer flow measurement (6), low-frequency sound-source localization (7), and directional hearing aids (8). It has important socioeconomic impacts involved with defense and civilian tasks, biomedical and healthcare, energy saving and noise reduction of aircraft, natural and man-made hazard monitoring and warning, etc (1-10). Traditional flow-sensing approaches such as laser Doppler velocimetry, particle image velocimetry, and hot-wire anemometry have demonstrated significant success in certain applications. However, their applicability in a small space is often limited by their large size, high power consumption, limited bandwidth, high interaction with medium flow, and/or complex setups. There are many examples of sensory hairs in nature that sense fluctuating flow by deflecting in a direction perpendicular to their long axis due to forces applied by the surrounding medium (11-16). The simple, efficient, and tiny natural hair-based flow sensors provide an inspiration to address these difficulties. Miniature artificial flow sensors based on various transduction appr...

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Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 87%

Sensing fluctuating airflow with spider silk

Zhou

Miles

2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…A single slit in this position is reported for the ctenid Czipiennius s a k i (Barth & Libera, 1970), while Foelix (1970b: figs 16, 17) apparently figures a series of slit sensilla in this position for Aruneus diadernatus (Araneidae), without noting their presence. Barth (1971) provides an excellent description of the morphology of slit sensilla, while others (Pringle, 1955;Walcott & van der Kloot, 1959) have provided good evidence for the function of arachnid slit sensilla as mechanoreceptors. The slit sensilla of the spider are thought to provide information in regard to cuticular stress, particularly when that stress is perpendicular to the sensillum and the deformation of the cuticle (strain) is maximized (Barth, 1972;Seyfarth & Barth, 1972).…”

Section: Slit Sensillamentioning

confidence: 99%

The pretarsus of salticid spiders

Hill

1977

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society

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The pretarsus of Phidippus audax (Hentz) consists of two claws flexibly articulated to a central claw lever which is flanked on either side by a curved plate of tenent setae. The claw apparatus allows for retraction of the claws by means of a dorsal cuticular cable of the pretarsal levator, while extension involves the pull of the pretarsal depressor on a ventral cable attached to the claw lever. A series of slit sensilla are strategically situated on either side of this lever. The anterior and posterior claws of the pretarsus differ in the number and spacing of their constituent teeth. The claw tufts are composed of specialized setae which account for the mechanical traction of the foot‐pads. Whorled and filamentous setae of the distal tarsus are associated with the pretarsus. Comparable structures are found on other salticids.

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“…Again, it is not clear that extrapolation to small displacements is always justified (see Walcott and van der Kloot 1959), but since similar tuning curves and thresholds were obtained by both Autrum and Schneider ( 1948) and Schnorbus ( 197 1 a,b) using different devices, this potential pitfall may not have been important in practice.…”

Section: Critique Of Previous Attempts To Measure Absolute Vibration mentioning

confidence: 82%

“…As part of a comparative study, Autrum and Schneider ( 1948) attached isolated mesothoracic legs to the vibrating coil of a dynamic speaker from which the main diaphragm had been removed, so that the whole leg was vibrated as a unit. Again, it is not clear that extrapolation to small displacements is always justified (see Walcott and van der Kloot 1959), but since similar tuning curves and thresholds were obtained by both Autrum and Schneider ( 1948) and Schnorbus ( 197 1 a,b) using different devices, this potential pitfall may not have been important in practice. Potentially a more serious problem with the experimental designs of both Autrum and Schneider ( 1948) and Schnorbus (1971a,b) is that their vibrators accelerated the entire leg through stationary air, necessarily generating pressure transients in the cut ends of the large tracheae at the surface of amputation.…”

Section: Absolute Vibration Threshold In Cockroach Legsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Re‐evaluation of the absolute threshold and response mode of the most sensitive know “vibration” detector, the cockroach's subgenual organ: A cochlea‐like displacement threshold and a direct response to sound

Shaw

1994

J. Neurobiol.

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Earlier accounts claim from indirect measurements that the subgenual organ (SGO) in the proximal tibia of the cockroach leg can detect vibrational displacements down to 0.002 nm, two orders of magnitude below the threshold for vertebrate hair cells in the cochlea. The SGO vibration threshold is redetermined here more directly by a new method on a cantilever beam, while controlling for particular acoustic and vibrational artifacts that might have compromised earlier efforts. The threshold is revised upwards to about 0.2 nm in the most sensitive preparation, about the same as the cochlea. Recently, it has been determined that the cockroach SGO also has an auditory response, and the data here on subthreshold summation and response-intensity relationships provide further evidence that sound and contact vibration are both sensed by the same receptor neurons. Direct measurements rule out the prevailing hypothesis that sound is detected indirectly as induced vibration of the ground, and also weigh strongly against any significant involvement of generalized leg resonance in acoustic pick-up. The results fit with a recent proposal that the auditory response is direct, and that acoustic fluctuations inside the tracheae may be the primary response mode in the transduction of both vibration and sound.

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The physiology of the spider vibration receptor

Cited by 74 publications

References 19 publications

Sensing fluctuating airflow with spider silk

Sensing fluctuating airflow with spider silk

The pretarsus of salticid spiders

Re‐evaluation of the absolute threshold and response mode of the most sensitive know “vibration” detector, the cockroach's subgenual organ: A cochlea‐like displacement threshold and a direct response to sound

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