The great silk alternative: multiple co-evolution of web loss and sticky hairs in spiders.

ABSTRACT: Spiders are the most important terrestrial predators among arthropods. Their ecological success is reflected by a high biodiversity and the conquest of nearly every terrestrial habitat. Spiders are closely associated with silk, a material, often seen to be responsible for their great ecological success and gaining high attention in life sciences. However, it is often overlooked that more than half of all Recent spider species have abandoned web building or never developed such an adaptation. These species must have found other, more economic solutions for prey capture and retention, compensating the higher energy costs of increased locomotion activity. Here we show that hairy adhesive pads (scopulae) are closely associated with the convergent evolution of a vagrant life style, resulting in

SUBMITTER: Wolff JO 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3641104 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature