BioOne.org will be down briefly for maintenance on 17 December 2024 between 18:00-22:00 Pacific Time US. We apologize for any inconvenience.
How to translate text using browser tools
27 April 2019 Radius construction by Micrathena duodecimspinosa (Araneae: Araneidae): a puzzle within a puzzle
William Eberhard
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Araneid orb weavers systematically weaken the radii in their orbs by partially or completely removing the provisional radial lines laid during radius construction. Removal of provisional radii by Micrathena duodecimspinosa (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1890) tended to be less complete for those radii that were attached later during the radius construction stage to the same frame line; this pattern differed from previous observations of provisional radius removal in two other araneids. Patterns of removal in M. duodecimspinosa were not in accord with a previous hypothesis that provisional radius removal functions to adjust radial tensions. In addition, M. duodecimspinosa moved in complex, jerky paths during radius construction that did not occur in previous or subsequent stages of construction. These movements resulted from the spider vibrating the entire web as she moved; their functional significance is unclear.

William Eberhard "Radius construction by Micrathena duodecimspinosa (Araneae: Araneidae): a puzzle within a puzzle," The Journal of Arachnology 47(1), 57-62, (27 April 2019). https://doi.org/10.1636/0161-8202-47.1.57
Received: 26 April 2018; Published: 27 April 2019
KEYWORDS
double radii
orb construction behavior
weaken orb
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top