Several studies on tarantulas have claimed that their tarsi could secrete fine silk threads which would provide additional safety lines for maintaining a secure foot-hold on smooth vertical surfaces. This interpretation was seriously questioned by behavioral experiments, and more recently morphological evidence indicated that the alleged spigots ("ribbed hairs") were not secretory but most likely sensory hairs (chemoreceptors). However, since fine structural studies were lacking, the sensory nature was not proven convincingly. By using transmission electron microscopy we here present clear evidence that these "ribbed hairs" contain many dendrites inside the hair lumen - as is the case in the well-known contact chemoreceptors of spiders and insects. For comparison, we also studied the fine structure of regular silk spigots on the spinnerets and found them distinctly different from sensory hairs. Finally, histological studies of a tarantula tarsus did not reveal any silk glands, which, by contrast, are easily found within the spinnerets. In conclusion, the alleged presence of silk spigots on tarantula feet is refuted.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asd.2013.02.005 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Spinneret spinning field ontogeny and life history observations in the spider (Araneae: Palpimanidae).
J Arachnol
April 2024
University Instrumentation Center, University of New Hampshire, Parsons Hall W123, 23 Academic Way, Durham, New Hampshire 03824, USA.
As in other Palpimanidae, two pairs of posterior spinnerets present in typical Araneomorphae are vestigial in Kulczyński, 1909, with only the anterior lateral spinneret (ALS) pair prominent. Nevertheless, in late juvenile and adult females, spigots appear in the ancestral posterior spinneret region (PS). Consistent with these spigots serving cylindrical silk glands, females construct substantial egg sacs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNature's loom: How to design a spinning tool using chitin-protein based composite material.
Int J Biol Macromol
November 2024
Integrative Science Center of Germplasm Creation in Western China (CHONGQING) Science City, Biological Science Research Center, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China. Electronic address:
Article Synopsis
- Silk-producing animals, like silkworms, use specialized spigots to create silk fibers for various applications.
- The study of the silkworm Bombyx mori reveals that its spigot has a unique triple-ridged design made from proteins, resilin, chitin, and metal ions, which enhances its mechanical properties.
- These insights not only deepen our understanding of natural silk spinning but also inspire the development of new materials that mimic these properties.
Comparative anatomy of the spinneret musculature in cribellate and ecribellate spiders (Araneae).
J Morphol
February 2024
Evolutionary Biomechanics, Zoological Institute and Museum, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
Silk production is a prominent characteristic of spiders. The silk is extruded through spigots located on the spinnerets, which are single- to multimembered paired appendages at the end of the abdomen. Most extant spiders have three pairs of spinnerets, and in between either a cribellum (spinning plate) or a colulus (defunct vestigial organ), dividing these spiders into cribellate and ecribellate species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGeometric regularity of spider webs has been intensively studied in orb-weaving spiders, although it is not exclusive of orb weavers. Here, we document the geometrically regular, repetitive elements in the webs of the non-orb-weaving groups Leptonetidae and Telemidae for the first time. Similar to orb weavers, we found areas with regularly spaced parallel lines in the webs of , sp.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCapture silk scaffold production in the cribellar web spider.
Appl Microsc
July 2021
Department of Biological Sciences, Dankook University, 31116, Cheonan, Korea.
Spider capture silk is a natural scaffolding material that outperforms most synthetic materials in terms of its combination of strength and elasticity. Among the various kinds of silk threads, cribellar thread is the most primitive prey-capturing type of spider web material. We analyzed the functional organization of the sieve-like cribellum spigots and specialized calamistral comb bristles for capture thread production by the titanoecid spider Nurscia albofasciata.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!