Direct behavioral observations, plus deductions made from studying the lines in recently built webs, showed that Linothele macrothelifera Strand 1908 lays swaths of lines in relatively stereotypic ways that differ during sheet web and tube construction. Sheet construction occurs in brief bursts interspersed with returns to the retreat. The legs are not used to manipulate lines; the spinnerets attach lines to the substrate and are probably used as sense organs. Asymmetrical use of the spinnerets during sheet construction results in an increase in the variety of orientations of lines in the sheet.
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1 April 2013
Web construction of Linothele macrothelifera (Araneae: Dipluridae)
William G. Eberhard,
Nicolas A. Hazzi
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The Journal of Arachnology
Vol. 41 • No. 1
April 2013
Vol. 41 • No. 1
April 2013
Mygalomorph
sheet web construction behavior