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A new view of orb webs: multiple trap designs in a single structure

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dc.contributor.author Eberhard, William G. en
dc.date.accessioned 2015-02-25T18:30:17Z
dc.date.available 2015-02-25T18:30:17Z
dc.date.issued 2014
dc.identifier.citation Eberhard, William G. 2014. "A new view of orb webs: multiple trap designs in a single structure." <em>Biological Journal of the Linnean Society</em>. 111 (2):437&ndash;449. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/bij.12207">https://doi.org/10.1111/bij.12207</a> en
dc.identifier.issn 0024-4066
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10088/24518
dc.description.abstract Spider orb webs are impressive for their apparently uniform geometric patterns. There are, however, consistent, substantial and taxonomically widespread periphery-to-hub differences in the distances between both adjacent radii and between sticky spiral lines. Radii in typical orbs were on average about 4 5 times farther apart at the outer edge than the inner edge of the area covered by sticky lines. Distances between sticky spiral loops were on average about two times larger near the outer edge than in more inner portions. This pattern in sticky spiral spacing was absent in the modified orbs of Nephila clavipes, in which distances between radii varied less. Thus, patterns in sticky spiral spacing may be related to inter-radial spacing; there is, however, probably no single explanation for all of the different patterns of sticky spiral spacing. The patterned differences in radius and sticky spiral spacing have important consequences for understanding orb function, because the lines in a prey&#39;s immediate vicinity largely determine whether it will be stopped and then retained, and elementary physics dictates that contact with more lines will tend to increase prey being stopped and retained. Rather than being a unit trap with a single set of prey capture properties, an orb has locally different trapping properties in different sectors. Abandoning the previous typological style of discussion of the ability of a given design to stop and retain prey promises to lead to improved understanding of orb web designs. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2014, ??, ?? ??. en
dc.relation.ispartof Biological Journal of the Linnean Society en
dc.title A new view of orb webs: multiple trap designs in a single structure en
dc.type Journal Article en
dc.identifier.srbnumber 118328
dc.identifier.doi 10.1111/bij.12207
rft.jtitle Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
rft.volume 111
rft.issue 2
rft.spage 437
rft.epage 449
dc.description.SIUnit STRI en
dc.description.SIUnit Peer-reviewed en
dc.citation.spage 437
dc.citation.epage 449


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