RT Journal Article
T1 Remote monitoring of vibrational information in spider webs
A1 Mortimer, B
A1 Soler Presas, Ana
A1 Siviour, Cr
A1 Vollrath, F
AB Vibration, Spider, Orb web, FEA model, Vibrometry,  Communicated by: Sven ThatjeSpiders are fascinating model species to study information-acquisition strategies, with the web acting as an extension of theanimal"s body. Here, we compare the strategies of two orb-weaving spiders that acquire information through vibrations transmitted and filtered in the web. Whereas Araneus diadematus monitors web vibration directly on the web, Zygiella x-notata uses asignal thread to remotely monitor web vibration from a retreat, which gives added protection. We assess the implications of thesetwo information-acquisition strategies on the quality of vibration information transfer, using laser Doppler vibrometry to measurevibrations of real webs and finite element analysis in computer models of webs. We observed that the signal thread imposed nobiologically relevant time penalty for vibration propagation. However, loss of energy (attenuation) was a cost associated withremote monitoring via a signal thread. The findings have implications for the biological use of vibrations by spiders, including themechanisms to locate and discriminate between vibration sources. We show that orb-weaver spiders are fascinating examples oforganisms that modify their physical environment to shape their information-acquisition strategy.
SN 0028-1042
YR 2018
FD 2018-05-22
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10016/38586
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10016/38586
LA eng
DS e-Archivo
RD 18 jul. 2024