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Articles 1 - 6 of 6
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Webs In Vitro And In Vivo: Spiders Alter Their Orb-Web Spinning Behavior In The Laboratory, Andrew Sensenig, Ingi Agnarsson, Taylor M. Gondek, Todd A. Blackledge
Webs In Vitro And In Vivo: Spiders Alter Their Orb-Web Spinning Behavior In The Laboratory, Andrew Sensenig, Ingi Agnarsson, Taylor M. Gondek, Todd A. Blackledge
Todd A. Blackledge
Many studies of the elegant architectures of orb webs are conducted in controlled laboratory environments that remove environmental variability. The degree to which spider behavior in these circumstances resembles that of spiders in the wild is largely unknown. We compared web architecture and silk investment of furrowed orb weavers Larinioides corium's (Clerck 1757) building webs in laboratory cages and spinning webs on fences in the field and found significant differences. The volume of major ampullate silk in radii was 53% lower in cage webs, primarily because the silk was 50% thinner, but also because spiders tended to spin 14% fewer …
Spider Silk As A Novel High Performance Biomimetic Muscle Driven By Humidity, Ingi Agnarsson, Ali Dhinojwala, Vasav Sahni, Todd Blackledge
Spider Silk As A Novel High Performance Biomimetic Muscle Driven By Humidity, Ingi Agnarsson, Ali Dhinojwala, Vasav Sahni, Todd Blackledge
Todd A. Blackledge
The abrupt halt of a bumble bee's flight when it impacts the almost invisible threads of an orb web provides an elegant example of the amazing strength and toughness of spider silk. Spiders depend upon these properties for survival, yet the impressive performance of silk is not limited solely to tensile mechanics. Here, we show that silk also exhibits powerful cyclic contractions, allowing it to act as a high performance mimic of biological muscles. These contractions are actuated by changes in humidity alone and repeatedly generate work 50 times greater than the equivalent mass of human muscle. Although we demonstrate …
How Super Is Supercontraction? Persistent Versus Cyclic Responses To Humidity In Spider Dragline Silk, Todd Blackledge, Cecilia Boutry, Shing-Chung Wong, Avinash Baji
How Super Is Supercontraction? Persistent Versus Cyclic Responses To Humidity In Spider Dragline Silk, Todd Blackledge, Cecilia Boutry, Shing-Chung Wong, Avinash Baji
Todd A. Blackledge
Spider dragline silk has enormous potential for the development of biomimetic fibers that combine strength and elasticity in low density polymers. These applications necessitate understanding how silk reacts to different environmental conditions. For instance, spider dragline silk 'supercontracts' in high humidity. During supercontraction, unrestrained dragline silk contracts up to 50% of its original length and restrained fibers generate substantial stress. Here we characterize the response of dragline silk to changes in humidity before, during and after supercontraction. Our findings demonstrate that dragline silk exhibits two qualitatively different responses to humidity. First, silk undergoes a previously unknown cyclic relaxation-contraction response to …
Unraveling The Mechanical Properties Of Composite Silk Threads Spun By Cribellate Orb-Weaving Spiders, Todd Blackledge, Cheryl Hayashi
Unraveling The Mechanical Properties Of Composite Silk Threads Spun By Cribellate Orb-Weaving Spiders, Todd Blackledge, Cheryl Hayashi
Todd A. Blackledge
Orb-web weaving spiders depend upon the mechanical performance of capture threads to absorb the energy of flying prey. Most orb-weavers spin wet capture threads with core fibers of flagelliform silk. These threads are extremely compliant and extensible due to the folding of their constituent proteins into molecular nanosprings and hydration by a surrounding coating of aqueous glue. In contrast, other orb-weavers use cribellate capture threads, which are composite structures consisting of core fibers of pseudoflagelliform silk surrounded by a matrix of fine dry cribellar fibrils. Based on phylogenetic evidence, cribellate capture threads predate the use of viscid capture threads. To …
Silken Toolkits: Biomechanics Of Silk Fibers Spun By The Orb Web Spider Argiope Argentata (Fabricius 1775), Todd A. Blackledge, Cheryl Y. Hayashi
Silken Toolkits: Biomechanics Of Silk Fibers Spun By The Orb Web Spider Argiope Argentata (Fabricius 1775), Todd A. Blackledge, Cheryl Y. Hayashi
Todd A. Blackledge
Orb-weaving spiders spin five fibrous silks from differentiated glands that contain unique sets of proteins. Despite diverse ecological functions, the mechanical properties of most of these silks are not well characterized. Here, we quantify the mechanical performance of this toolkit of silks for the silver garden spider Argiope argentata. Four silks exhibit viscoelastic behaviour typical of polymers, but differ statistically from each other by up to 250% in performance, giving each silk a distinctive suite of material properties. Major ampullate silk is 50% stronger than other fibers, but also less extensible. Aciniform silk is almost twice as tough as other …
Quasistatic And Continuous Dynamic Characterization Of The Mechanical Properties Of Silk From The Cobweb Of The Black Widow Spider Latrodectus Hesperus, Todd A. Blackledge, John E. Swindeman, Cheryl Y. Hayashi
Quasistatic And Continuous Dynamic Characterization Of The Mechanical Properties Of Silk From The Cobweb Of The Black Widow Spider Latrodectus Hesperus, Todd A. Blackledge, John E. Swindeman, Cheryl Y. Hayashi
Todd A. Blackledge
Spider silks are among the strongest and toughest known materials, but investigation of these remarkable properties has been confined largely to orb-weaving spiders. We investigated the mechanical performance of silk from the cobweb-weaving spider Latrodectus hesperus. Both silk from the scaffolding region of the web and sticky gumfooted capture lines had material properties similar to the major ampullate silk that orb weavers use as the framework for their orb webs. Major ampullate fibers obtained from anaesthetized Latrodectus spiders were similar, but exhibited increased stiffness and reduced extensibility. Novel continuous dynamic analysis of the silks revealed that the loss tangent (tan …