Meeting Abstract

48.3  Monday, Jan. 5  Co-evolution of silk material properties with spider webs SENSENIG, Andrew T.*; AGNARSSON, Ingi; BLACKLEDGE, Todd A.; University of Akron; University of Akron; University of Akron a_sensenig@yahoo.com

Silk fibers spun by spiders perform varied and numerous roles, but have been studied most intensively in the context of prey capture in webs. Orb-weaving spiders produce several types of specialized silk that differ in material properties, and are adapted to specific roles within orb webs. While fiber breaking force, total energy absorption (toughness), elastic energy absorption (loss modulus), and stiffness are known to depend on the particular role of the fiber within a web, they may also depend on details of web architecture that vary across species, such as web size, the spacing of supporting radial threads, or the width between rows of sticky silk. Thus, silk material properties may have both ecological and phylogenetic constraints on their evolution. We examine this question in the context of a large survey of orb-weaving spiders within the family Araneidae, in which web architecture has undergone several independent transformations between high and low fiber density webs.