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All spiders produce silk, although some spiders do not make webs. Silk is tied to courtship and mating. Silk produced by females provides a transmission channel for male vibratory courtship signals, while webs and draglines provide a substrate for female sex pheromones. Observations of male spiders producing silk during sexual interactions are ...
Observations suggesting that there might be silk-producing organs on the feet of the zebra tarantula (Aphonopelma seemanni) led to questions about the origins of spinnerets. It was hypothesised that spinnerets in spiders were originally used as climbing aids on the feet and evolved and were used for webmaking at a later time. [8]
Spiders also have several adaptations that distinguish them from other arachnids. All spiders are capable of producing silk of various types, which many species use to build webs to ensnare prey. Most spiders possess venom, which is injected into prey (or defensively, when the spider feels threatened) through the fangs of the chelicerae. Male ...
Spiders produce silk using special organs called spinnerets, located typically on the underside of their abdomen. They look a bit like an icing nozzle The 7 Types of Spider Webs and the Incredible ...
In addition to preserving spiders' anatomy in very fine detail, pieces of amber show spiders mating, killing prey, producing silk and possibly caring for their young. In a few cases, amber has preserved spiders' egg sacs and webs, occasionally with prey attached; [ 93 ] the oldest fossil web found so far is 100 million years old. [ 94 ]
The mussel Pinna nobilis creates silk to bond itself to rocks. It is used to make sea silk. Spiders make spider silk for various purposes such as weaving their webs, protecting their eggs or as a safety line. The amphipod Peramphithoe femorata uses silk to make a nest out of kelp blades.
In certain groups of spider species, so-called cribellate spiders, the cribellum is a silk spinning organ. Unlike the usual spinnerets of spiders, the cribellum consists of one or more plates covered in thousands of tiny spigots, tiny holes that hardly project from the surface, in contrast to the elongated spigots that project from spinnerets. [1]
In spiders, the calamistrum is a row of specialized leg bristles used to comb out fine bands of silk. [1] It is only found on cribellate spiders, that is, spiders that possess the spinning organ known as the cribellum. [2] The calamistrum and cribellum are used to form the hackled bands of silk which are characteristic of the webs of these ...