How do spiders to be the
Spiderman?
Gan Wenjin
EEPAI Group, XTBG
The Superpower of Spiderman
Superstrength
silk
Acute
vision
Brilliant
brain
Adhesive
web
Vision
(Lim & Daiqin Li, 2007)
(DavidEdwin
EdwinHill,
Hill,2010)
2010)
(David
(Photographs by Ron Atkinson)
(Lim & Daiqin Li, 2007)
Silk
SCIENCEphotoLIBRARY
(Photographs by Ron Atkinson)
How spiders spin webs of great strength?
Stick thread
(Ron Atkinson)
What do spiders use their silk for?
Web
http://www.oocities.org/brisbane_spiders
Orb-web Frame Diagram
http://www.oocities.org/brisbane_spiders
Brain
Decoration-building Behavior
Web-decorating behavior
Spiral stabilimentum
built by Cyclosa
spider
Cross-like stabilimentum
spum by Argiope adults
Vertical-linear
stabilimentum
produced by
other Argiope
species
Silk-decoration built by same
species
(Photographs by Daiqin Li)
Forms of web decorations
(Herberstein et al. 2000)
Web decorations by Cyclosa sp.
Prey remains
Silk
Egg sacs
Detritus
Model system
WHAT…?
HOW
WHY
Self-secreted materials(SS)
Egg sacs
Molt
Silk
Cyclosa octotuberculata
Collected materials(CO)
Prey remains
Bark
Dry leaf
Flower pedals
Green leaf
Fibers
Materials (a)
N =35 out of 200
Both:
18%
SS: 11%
N =11 out of 200
CO: 71%
N =143 out of 200
2 = 132.4, df = 2, P < 0.0001
Patterns
2 =385.2, df=3, P<0.0001
Below 2%
Discoid 5%
Above 8%
Linear 85%
WHAT
HOW…?
Where Cyclosa spiders collect
decorating materials to
decorate their webs?
WHY
Experimental procedure
20 cm
20 cm
5 cm
• Monitored the webs
continuously for six days.
• Variables recorded:
1. No. spiders decorating webs.
2. Mean No. pieces of paper
used.
3. Mean decoration length.
Mean decoration length (mm)
Results
40
30
20
10
0
Bottom
Web
Both
Bottom
% leaf fragements used to
decoration
Adult
Web
Both
Juvenile
Fig.1 Mean ( s.e.)
cumulative decoration
length(mm) built by each
experimental group of
spiders at the end of
experiment in day5.
100
80
60
40
20
0
Bottom
Web
Adult
Both
Bottom
Web
Juvenile
Both
Fig.2 Mean ( s.e.)
cumulative number of dryleaf fragments used by each
experimental group of
spiders to decorate their
webs in day5.
WHAT
HOW…?
How Cyclosa spiders collect
materials to decorate their
webs?
WHY
Color
Texture
Number of scraps
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Texture
F3=1.686 P=0.174
F3=2.417 P=0.70
F3=1.062 P=0.368
Dry Green Plant Bark Dry Green Plant Bark Dry Green Plant Bark
leaves leaves fibres
leaves leaves fibres
leaves leaves fibres
Upper
Overlap
Below
• Fig.3 Number of different positions of different textures fragments of web
decorations built by spiders in the day5.
• Effect of different color fragments on the web and decoration traits in
day5: F3 = 0.038, P=0.990 (ANOVA)
Weight
Total number of
spiders used scraps
• Table 1 Effect of
different weight
fragments on the web
and decoration traits
in day5.
Factor
Weight
Web and decoration
F4
traits
CA
0.7930
TTL
0.8859
MH
0.1276
Number of fragments 20.1639
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
P
0.5315
0.4741
0.9722
<0.001
• Fig.4 Total number of
spiders used 5 different
weight fragments in day5.
5×8
10×8
15×8
20×8 Mixed
WHAT
HOW
WHY…?
Plant detritus
Fig. 5 Normalized
reflectance spectra of
Cyclosaoctotuberculat
a spiders, decorations
and vegetation
backgrounds
A cost of web decoration:
predator-attraction
The Super-organ of Spiders
Superstrength
silk
Acute
vision
Brilliant
brain
Adhesive
web
Reference
•
•
•
•
•
•
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider
http://www.oocities.org
hhttp://www.arachnology.be/Arachnology.html
http://www.findaspider.org.au
Biology of Spiders, Folix, Oxford Express
A Spider’s World: Senses and Behaviour, Barth, F.G.,
Springer-Verlag, Berlin
• Animal behavior (9th edition), John Alcock
Thank you!