hutchinsoni are different to that of previously studied bolas spiders. Their model showed that the material properties of the glue in the bolas of M. analysed the prey capture behaviour of the American bolas spider, Mastophora hutchinsoni, by calculating the kinematics of both spider and moth based on high-speed recordings to model the physical properties of the bolas during prey capture. They were able to show with computational fluid dynamics models that this spinning likely has the function of further spreading the emitted pheromones in open habitats.
In the first paper, Candido Dias, Jr and John Roff showed, using high-speed cameras, that the South African grassland bolas spider, Cladomelea akermani, actively spins, not only the bolas, but also its body. Candido Dias, Jr and colleagues looked closely at the biomechanics behind this fascinating prey capture behaviour.
Spider predators full#
We start this section on web-building spiders with a very interesting group of araneid spiders that have lost the ability to build full orb webs-the bolas spiders, which, instead of a web construct, they use a single thread as a lasso to catch moths attracted by the pheromones emitted by the spider. Basic Research on Spider Ecology and Behaviour This, combined with observational data from Southern Spain on web sizes in different seasons, suggests that the tent-web spider could potentially be a successful biological control agent of the tomato leafminer in the tomato planting and growing season assuming that high parasitic wasp infection of spider eggs can be controlled. Choice experiments demonstrated that the tent-web spider had nearly similar capture efficiency between tomato leafminers and mutant flight-less Drosophila, and had a far higher capture success rate than against the larger black soldier flies. In the present Special Issue, Thomas Roberts-McEwen and colleagues show that a group-living araneid, the tropical tent-web spider, Cyrtophora citricola, might have hitherto overlooked potential in controlling the tomato leafminer ( Tuta absoluta), a major pest on tomato plants worldwide. However, the role of spiders as important regulators of pest species in agroecosystems, in combination with parasitic wasps and other insect predators, is becoming more established. Traditionally, the most focus has been on mites, which can act both as pests and as natural pest controllers. One of the most well-studied areas of applied arachnology is undoubtedly arachnids’ potential role as natural enemies of agricultural pests. The biomimetics potential of spider behaviour includes biologically inspired locomotion and robotics, and using the spider web for inspiration for sensors and light weight composite structures. Areas of particular interest to behaviour and ecology include their role as enemies of natural pests, their webs as indicators of pollution, and their significant potential in biomimetics, which is the inspiration, abstraction, and application of evolved processes or traits in biological organisms to our technology. More recently, it has also become evident that spiders, in addition to their intrinsic interest as fascinating and, illogically, feared animals, likely due to press misinformation, may be of direct benefit to society, a field we can call applied arachnology similar to, or a subset of, the more established field of applied entomology. In behavioural studies, they are model organisms for studies in animal communication and signalling, foraging behaviour, mating behaviour and animal contests, and cognition, while web-building spiders, in particular, are also used extensively in studies on construction behaviour and behavioural flexibility. In ecology, they are prominently featured in studies, particularly on dispersal and biogeography, due to their unique ability for long-distance dispersal via ballooning, and in studies on niche separation. Therefore, it is, perhaps, unsurprising that they have been studied fairly extensively within many of the subdisciplines that make up ecology and animal behaviour. Spiders are versatile and ubiquitous generalist predators that can be found in all terrestrial ecosystems except for Antarctica.
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