Estimating the stickiness of individual adhesive capture threads in spider orb webs

Journal of Arachnology

Volumn 30, Issue 3, 2002, Pages 494-502

  Opell, Brent D ^a  

^a VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Araneae; Orb web; Prey capture; Spider thread; Stickiness

Indexed keywords

ARANEAE; ARANEUS; ARANEUS MARMOREUS; ARGIOPE TRIFASCIATA; CYCLOSA; HEXAPODA; LEUCAUGE; LEUCAUGE VENUSTA; MICRATHENA; MICRATHENA GRACILIS;

EID: 0036949039     PISSN: 01618202     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1636/0161-8202(2002)030[0494:ETSOIA]2.0.CO;2     Document Type: Article

References (40)

1. Berman, J.D. & H.W. Levi. 1971. The orb weaver genus Neoscona in North America (Araneae: Araneidae). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 141:465-500.
2. Bond, J.A. & B.D. Opell. 1998. Testing adaptive radiation and key innovation hypotheses in spiders. Evolution 52:403-414.
3. Chacón, P. & W.G. Eberhard. 1980. Factors affecting numbers and kinds of prey caught in artificial spider webs with considerations of how orb-webs trap prey. Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society 5:29-38.
4. Coddington, J.A. 1986. The monophyletic origin of the orb web. Pp. 319 - 363. In Spiders: Webs, Behavior, and Evolution (W.A. Shear. ed.). Stanford University Press, Stanford.
5. Coddington, J.A. 1990a. Ontogeny and homology in the male palpus of orb-weaving spiders and their relatives, with comments on phylogeny (Araneoclada: Araneoidea, Deinopoidea). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 496:1-52.
6. Coddington, J.A. 1990b. Cladistics and spider classification: araneomorph phylogeny and the monophyly of orb-weavers (Araneae: Araneomorphae: Orbiculariae). Acta Zoologici Fennici 190:75-87.
7. Coddington, J.A. & H.W. Levi. 1991. Systematics and evolution of spiders (Araneae). Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 22:565-592.
8. Craig, C.L. 1987. The ecological and evolutionary interdependence between web architecture and web silk spun by orb web weaving spiders. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 30:135-162.
9. Eberhard, W.G. 1986. Effects of orb-web geometry on prey interception and retention. Pp. 70-100. In Spiders: Webs, Behavior, and Evolution (W.A. Shear. ed.). Stanford University Press, Stanford.
10. Eberhard, W.G. 1989. Effects of orb-web orientation and spider size on prey retention. Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society 8:45-48.
11. Eberhard, W.G. 1990. Function and phylogeny of spider webs. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 21:341-372.
12. Eberhard, W.G. & F. Pereira. 1993. Ultrastructure of cribellate silk of nine species in eight families and possible taxonomic implications. (Araneae: Amaurobiidae, Deinopidae, Desidae, Dictynidae, Filistatidae, Hypochilidae, Stiphidiidae, Tengellidae). Journal of Arachnology 21:161-174.
13. Felsenstein, J. 1985. Phylogenies and the comparative method. American Naturalist 125:1-15.
14. Griswold, C.E., J.A. Coddington, G. Hormiga & N. Scharff. 1998. Phylogeny of the orb-web building spiders (Araneae, Orbiculariae: Deinopoidea, Araneoidea). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 123:1-99.
15. Harvey, P.H. & M.D. Pagel. 1991. The Comparative Method in Evolutionary Biology. Oxford University Press, New York.
16. Levi, H.W. 1968. The spider genera Gea and Argiope in America (Araneae: Araneidae). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 136:319-352.
17. Levi, H.W. 1976. The American orb-weaver genera Colphepeira, Micrathena and Gasteracantha North of Mexico (Araneae: Araneidae). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 148:417-442.
18. Levi, H.W. 1977. The American orb-weaver genera Cyclosa, Metazygia and Eustala North of Mexico (Araneae: Araneidae). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 148:61-127.
19. Levi, H.W. 1980. The orb-weaver genus Mecynogea, the subfamily Metinae and the Genera Pachygnatha, Glenognatha, and Azilla of the Subfamily Tetragnathinae North of Mexico (Araneae: Araneidae). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 149:1-74.
20. Levi, H.W. 1985. The spiny orb-weaver genera Micrathena and Chaetacis (Araneae: Araneidae). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 150:429-618.
21. Opell, B.D. 1990. Material investment and prey capture potential of reduced spider webs. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 26:375-381.
22. Opell, B.D. 1993. What forces are responsible for the stickiness of spider cribellar threads? Journal of Experimental Zoology 265:469-476.
23. Opell, B.D. 1994a. Factors governing the stickiness of cribellar prey capture threads in the spider family Uloboridae. Journal of Morphology 221:111-119.
24. Opell, B.D. 1994b. Increased stickiness of prey capture threads accompanying web reduction in the spider family Uloboridae. Functional Ecology 8:85-90.
25. Opell, B.D. 1994c. The ability of spider cribellar prey capture thread to hold insects with different surface features. Functional Ecology 8:145-150.
26. Opell, B.D. 1995. Ontogenetic changes in cribellum spigot number and cribellar prey capture thread stickiness in the spider family Uloboridae. Journal of Morphology 224:47-56.
27. Opell, B.D. 1996. Functional similarities of spider webs with diverse architectures. American Naturalist 148:630-648.
28. Opell, B.D. 1997. The material cost and stickiness of capture threads and the evolution of orb-weaving spiders. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 62:443-458.
29. Opell, B.D. 1998. Economics of spider orb-webs: the benefits of producing adhesive capture thread and of recycling silk. Functional Ecology 12:613-624.
30. Opell, B.D. 1999a. Changes in spinning anatomy and thread stickiness associated with the origin of orb-weaving spiders. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 68:593-612.
31. Opell, B.D. 1999b. Redesigning spider webs: stickiness, capture area, and the evolution of modern orb-webs. Evolutionary Ecology Research 1:503-516.
32. Opell, B.D. & J.E. Bond. 2001. Changes in the mechanical properties of capture threads and the evolution of modern orb-weaving spiders. Evolutionary Ecology Research 3:567-581.
33. Peters, H.M. 1995. Ultrastructure of orb spiders' gluey capture threads. Naturwissenschaften 82:380-382.
34. Purvis, A. & A. Rambaut. 1995. Comparative analysis by independent contrasts (CAIC): an Apple Macintosh application for analyzing comparative data. Computer Applications in the Biosciences 11:247-251.
35. Scharff, N. & J.A. Coddington. 1997. A phylogenetic analysis of the orb-weaving spider family Araneidae (Arachnida, Araneae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 120:355-434.
36. Tillinghast, E.K., M.A. Townley, TN. Wight, G. Uhlenbruck & E. Janssen. 1993. The adhesive glycoprotein of the orb web of Argiope aurantia (Araneae, Araneidae). Materials Research Society, Symposium Proceedings 292:9-23.
37. Townley, M.A., D.T Bernstein, K.S. Gallanger & E.K. Tillinghast. 1991. Comparative study of orb-web hydroscopicity and adhesive spiral composition in three araneoid spiders. Journal of Experimental Zoology 259:154-165.
38. Vollrath, F. 1992. Spider webs and silks. Scientific American 266:70-76.
39. Vollrath, F., W.J. Fairbrother, R.J.P. Williams, E.K. Tillinghast, D.T. Bernstein, K.S. Gallagher & M.A. Townley. 1990. Compounds in the droplets of the orb spider's viscid spiral. Nature 345:526-528.
40. Vollrath, F. & E.K. Tillinghast. 1991. Glycoprotein glue beneath a spider web's aqueous coat. Naturwissenschaften 78:557-559.