Arachnids secrete a fluid over their adhesive pads.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Many arachnids possess adhesive pads on their feet that help them climb smooth surfaces and capture prey. Spider and gecko adhesives have converged on a branched, hairy structure, which theoretically allows them to adhere solely by dry (solid-solid) intermolecular interactions. Indeed, the consensus in the literature is that spiders and their smooth-padded relatives, the solifugids, adhere without the aid of a secretion.

Methodology and principal findings

We investigated the adhesive contact zone of living spiders, solifugids and mites using interference reflection microscopy, which allows the detection of thin liquid films. Like insects, all the arachnids we studied left behind hydrophobic fluid footprints on glass (mean refractive index: 1.48-1.50; contact angle

SUBMITTER: Peattie AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3102731 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature