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Organisms capture energy to support growth, survival and reproduction in diverse ways. Larger metazoans require less energy per unit time and mass than smaller ones. Thus, structures animals build to capture energy need not scale isometrically with body size. Web-building spiders use silk structures of diverse geometries to capture energy, including two-dimensional orbs in some families or three-dimensional tangles or sheet-and-tangles, in others. Despite this diversity, we show that energy consumption rate per unit mass scaled identically with body size across all web geometries with a less than 1 : 1 relationship to body size, as expected for metazoans from metabolic theory. Spiders thus appear to adjust the size and shape of their webs in precise ways to attain this relationship, including, as we show here, creating a hollow space within certain three-dimensional web types to maintain a constant prey capture surface area per unit spider mass as they grow in size without requiring more silk. Our findings show how the allometric relationship between energetic traits and body size can be mediated by extended phenotypes and suggest an equivalence paradigm akin to the equal fitness paradigm whereby the diverse adaptive strategies of organisms allow them to perform equally well in supplying a unit of mass the energy needed across a lifetime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent, rapid arthropod declines have been tied to human activity. Yet, the propensity for human‐produced noise to disturb the substrate‐borne (vibratory) channel remains virtually untested despite arthropods' ubiquitous use of vibratory information. Characterizing the vibratory landscape at biologically relevant scales is an essential initial step. We aimed to measure vibratory noise across space and time to assess its potential overlap with the urban–rural range and season of a funnel‐weaving spider, Agelenopsis pennsylvanica (C.L. Koch) (Araneae: Agelenidae), a common urban arthropod. We assessed 24‐h ambient vibrations (hereafter vibratory "noise") at 23 sites across urban–rural Lincoln, Nebraska (NE, USA), during the adult season of A. pennsylvanica (August–October). Vibratory noise (amplitude, Leq) varied by ~15 dB across sites overlapping with frequencies within A. pennsylvanica's sensitivity (20–1000 Hz). Urban vibratory noise was positively correlated with the principal component containing estimates of traffic‐induced vibrations (e.g., traffic volume, road proximity, and impervious cover), whereas rural noise levels correlated with probable harvest times. Our findings indicate spatial variation in noise in urban areas and seasonal noise variability in rural areas. We also tested how A. pennsylvanica—collected from four distinct noise survey sites—use their vibratory microhabitat. We assessed daily spider position and dry silk mass within a microcosm that played loud and quiet vibrations (white noise differing by ~15 dB) in separate but connected chambers. Age affected the chamber choice (hereafter "microhabitat use") of spiders collected from the loudest site, as younger adults associated with and used more silk in the loud chamber, but this effect decreased with age. As our data demonstrate that vibratory noise varies with A. pennsylvanica's microhabitat and season with a high potential for impacting behavior, we hypothesize that this environmental noise likely impacts other arthropods as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gut content metabarcoding has provided important insights into the food web ecology of spiders, the most dominant terrestrial arthropod predators. In small invertebrates, like spiders, gut content analysis is often performed on whole body DNA extracts of individual predators, from which prey sequences are selectively enriched and sequenced.Since many spider species are generalist predators, large numbers of samples comprising individual spider specimens must be analysed to recover an exhaustive image of a spider species' prey spectrum, which is costly and time‐consuming.Pooled processing of bulk samples of multiple specimens has been suggested to reduce the necessary workload and cost while still recovering a representative estimate of the prey diversity. However, it is still unclear if pooling approaches lead to bias in recovering the prey spectrum and if the results are comparable with data from individually processed spiders.Here, we test the effects of metabarcoding pooled spider gut content on the recovered taxonomic diversity and composition of prey. Using a newly adapted primer pair, which efficiently enriches COI barcode sequences of diverse arthropod prey groups while suppressing spider amplification, we test if pooling leads to reduced taxonomic diversity or skewed estimates of prey composition.Our results show that pooling and individual processing recover highly correlated taxonomic diversity and composition of prey. The only exception are very rare prey items which were less well recovered by pooling. Our results support pooling as a cost‐effective and time‐efficient approach to recover the diet of generalist predators for population‐level studies of spider trophic interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenic habitat modification is a major contributor to global change. While the modification of natural habitats to agroecosystems attracts most of the attention, little is known about the conversion of one natural ecosystem to another. Dry dipterocarp forest is the key dry forest type across Southeast Asia. Moderate fire disturbance is essential for its regeneration, but humans often prevent fire in these forests. Consequently, dry dipterocarps can change to dry evergreen forests through succession. The consequences of this conversion on food webs are unknown. Using the network approach, we compared the food webs of web-building spiders and their prey in the understory between dry dipterocarp (open canopy, uniform understory) and dry evergreen forests (closed canopy, heterogeneous understory) in north-eastern Thailand. Overall, we collected 560 individual web-building spiders belonging to 37 genera. Further, we collected 1139 prey items from spider webs belonging to 16 arthropod orders. The composition of captured prey and the network structure differed between the forest types. Specifically, the web-building spiders were more specialized and their niches overlapped less in dry dipterocarps than in dry evergreens. The differences in food-web structure were driven mostly by trophic groups turnover rather than interaction rewiring. Implications for insect conservation: The transformation of dry dipterocarp to dry evergreen forests from the prevention of fire disturbance may lead to an altered ecological function of web-building spiders in forest understories. As trophic links and their strength are rewired, habitat modification may also lead to changes in nutrient and energy flow in forest understories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Piezoionics, a new frontier that employs mobile ions as energy and charge carriers, plays an important role in new energy and intelligent electronics. However, a significant challenge consists in balancing the structural design of metal ions coordination hydrogel (HG‐MI) piezoionics for current conduction, voltage generation, and especially mechanical adaptability. Herein, inspired by the spider webs' unique structure, a strategy by realizing the full potential of metal‐ligand ions ([(OH)Cl2]3−) to facilitate the keggin‐type structure AlOHAlOH generation together with activate functional carboxyls is introduced. Impressively, the whole property of the product HG‐AlPAC, especially the mechanical performance is improved. For example, the toughness of HG‐AlPAC is 2.75 MJ m−3, more than twofold that of traditional HG‐AlAS/AC/AN samples. Due to the stable fixation of ─Al─OH─ thus promoting Cl− separation upon external force, HG‐AlPAC achieves a piezoionic coefficient of 0.89 mV KPa−1 and energy conversion efficiency of 1.29%, promising for mechanical‐electrical conversion and sensing. Combined with the good mechanical performance with the excellent piezoionic properties, underscores its potential as a tactile nerve system of analgesia patients to prevent them from being injured. This work intends to provide a stride toward mechanically robust self‐powered piezoionic sensors and offer insights into ionotropic materials for energy harvesting, human‐machine interaction, and biointerface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature has evolved a myriad of dedicate‐designed structures that assist in prey capture. Spiders employ their web structures for vibrational sensing and prey capture, analogous to a component of a neurosensory system. Here, we propose a spider web‐inspired sensor with integrated energy‐absorption and force perception capabilities by 3D printing. The conductive carbon black/TPU composite made from TPU granules and carbon black particles are employed for 3D printing. We analyze the underlying sensing mechanism of conductive CB/TPU composites stemming from the enhanced dispersion of the CB particles. Through 3D printing method, we are allowed to regulate the structure's form, filling density, arrangement, and printing path to tailor the static mechanical properties, initial resistance, and force sensitivity of the spider‐web inspired structure. The static mechanical model for single silk of the spider‐web inspired structure is constructed. We explore the energy absorption capability of spider‐web inspired structures with different structural parameters, and demonstrate its impact perceiving characteristics at different falling height. Additionally, we assembled a circuit to visually reflect the falling height of the impacting ball through the brightness of the LED light. This study provides insights to endowing structural materials with intelligent characteristics, contributing to their practical applications in the fields of biomedical, soft robotics, and artificial skin, etc. Highlights: A spider web‐inspired sensor is 3D printed with CB/TPU composites.The sensor has integrated force perception and energy‐absorption capabilities.The sensitivity capabilities can be regulated by parameter design.The mechanical model of the bioinspired structure is constructed.Its impact perceiving characteristics are demonstrated by two applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spider silk is a natural protein-based biomaterial, which is secreted through spiders' silk glands, and a type of bioelastic fiber, and is one of the best materials produced in nature. Spider silk fibers, which are biologically compatible and biodegradable, are very light and very thin. Besides having high elasticity, these fibers have high mechanical and specific strength, as well. Such properties of spider silk offer an ideal alternative for many products that require high performance. In addition to obtaining spider silk fiber from spiders by natural means, recombinant DNA technology is also used for the same purpose in a chemical manner. Fiber formation is observed after the DNA required to produce the main protein that forms the spider silk is taken, and then placed in bacteria-yeast, plants, insects or mammals. Industrially, the development of fibers with spider silk's characteristics offers a promising potential in the field of high-performance fibers. As a result of the studies to date, many studies within the scope of biomimetics science have found applications in textile sector. Spider fibers, which are one of the special fibers that present potential in many areas of the textile industry, are investigated in this study, as well. Here, spiders, obtaining fiber from spiders, properties of spider silk fibers, and the spider silk fibers' areas of use are included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In real-world networks, the structure and connections are constantly evolving over time. Detecting community changes within dynamic networks has always been an important research topic. When such changes are significant, it leads to difficulty for community detection algorithms to effectively utilize valuable information from the previous network snapshot, resulting in negative transfer in the next time step. To address the issue of poor algorithm adaptability to network mutations, this paper proposed a dynamic community detection algorithm based on genetic evolution ideas and higher-order knowledge transfer strategies. Firstly, it used the adjacency matrix similarity of adjacent snapshots to determine the use of first-order or higherorder information. Then, it employed the spider Web model for population initialization, followed by the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm NSGA-II to iteratively obtain multi-objective optimal solutions on the Pareto front. It designed a novel gene crossover method to enhance population diversity. Finally, experimental results on multiple real and simulated datasets demonstrate that, compared to existing algorithms, the proposed method achieves higher temporal smoothness in community detection results during network upheavals while maintaining a good community modularity level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need for thin and highly deformable textile reinforcements is constant in sectors like thin composites, catching nets, and complex construction designs (like dome-shape). The conventional rectangular-patterned meshed wovens are used in thin composite structures as reinforcement at the commercial level. These woven textiles are bidirectional and exhibit approximately the same strength along both axes. However, these conventional rectangular-patterned mesh designs show poor impact stress distribution capacity. Interestingly, very thin and fine mesh designs are available in nature. One such example is the spider web structure. These structures have evolved with time and optimised their mesh pattern design for better impact damage resistance and load transfer. In this study, the basalt fibre reinforced mortar textile composites are considered for the investigation due to their growing interest in civil and construction applications. To demonstrate how the mesh geometry in textiles significantly influences the stress transfer, energy absorption, and deformation of reinforcements under various impact situations, three different geometries, (a) square shape mesh, (b) diamond-shaped mesh, and (c) bio-inspired spider web mesh, are modelled and meshed based on the reference geometry's meshing pattern and dimensions. The results of numerical simulations show that a meshed reinforcement design inspired by spider-orb-web has improved mechanical features compared to conventional square and diamond shape mesh designs under high velocity impact loading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soft and stretchable electronics have garnered significant attention in various fields, such as wearable electronics, electronic skins, and soft robotics. However, current wearable electronics made from materials like conductive elastomers, hydrogels, and liquid metals face limitations, including low permeability, poor adhesion, inadequate conductivity, and limited stretchability. These issues hinder their effectiveness in long-term healthcare monitoring and exercise monitoring. To address these challenges, we introduce a novel design of web-droplet-like electronics featuring a semi-liquid metal coating for wearable applications. This innovative design offers high permeability, excellent stretchability, strong adhesion, and good conductivity for the electronic skin. The unique structure, inspired by the architecture of a spider web, significantly enhances air permeability compared to commercial breathable patches. Furthermore, the distribution of polyborosiloxane mimics the adhesive properties of spider web mucus, while the use of semi-liquid metals in this design results in remarkable conductivity (9 × 106 S/m) and tensile performance (up to 850% strain). This advanced electronic skin technology enables long-term monitoring of various physiological parameters and supports machine learning recognition functions with unparalleled advantages. This web-droplet structure design strategy holds great promise for commercial applications in medical health monitoring and disease diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For any bipartite graph G with bipartition V 1 and V 2 , a t -container C t (u , v) is a set of t internally disjoint paths P 1 , P 2 , ... , P t between two vertices u ∈ V 1 and v ∈ V 2 in G , i.e., C t (u , v) = { P 1 , P 2 , ... , P t }. Moreover, if V (P 1) ∪ V (P 2) ∪ ⋯ ∪ V (P t) = V (G) then C t (u , v) is called a spanning t -container, denoted by C t s l (u , v). The length of C t s l (u , v) = { P 1 , P 2 , ... , P t } is l (C t s l (u , v)) = max { l (P i) | 1 ≤ i ≤ t }. Besides, G is spanning t -laceable if there exists a spanning t -container between any two vertices u ∈ V 1 and v ∈ V 2 in G. Assume that u ∈ V 1 and v ∈ V 2 are two distinct vertices in a spanning t -laceable graph G. Let D t s l (u , v) be the collection of all C t s l (u , v) 's. Define the spanning t -wide distance between u and v in G , d t s l (u , v) = min { l (C t s l (u , v)) | C t s l (u , v) ∈ D t s l (u , v) } , and the spanning t -wide diameter of G , D t s l (G) = max { d t s l (u , v) | u ∈ V 1 , v ∈ V 2 }. In particular, the spanning wide diameter of G is D κ s l (G) , where κ is the connectivity of G. In the paper we first provide the lower and upper bounds of the wide diameter of a bipartite graph, and then determine the exact values of the spanning wide diameters of the spider web networks S W (m , n) for n = 2 , 4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are air pollutants generated mainly by fuel combustion, industry, and other anthropogenic sources. The level of these pollutants can be assessed by employing biomonitors, a cost-effective and less contaminating alternative than conventional methods. In the present study, we aimed to investigate whether spiders inhabiting areas around a major city like Córdoba, Argentina, adsorb and retain PAHs in their exoskeletons. Additionally, we aimed to determine if spiders' life traits influence their capacity to accumulate PAHs and explore potential relationships between PAH levels and the types of roads where they were collected. Specimens of a funnel-shaped web spider (Aglaoctenus lagotis) and an orb-weaver (Metepeira spp.) were collected from roadsides. Roads were classified into four categories based on their traffic intensity. Using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), we identified 15 different PAHs. Both species exhibited varying concentrations of PAHs, although Metepeira spp. showed 15–18 times higher PAH levels compared to A. lagotis. Moreover, A. lagotis individuals living alongside highways accumulated up to six times more PAHs compared to those along other road types. These findings suggest that spiders' life traits may influence pollutant concentrations. Our study demonstrates that spiders near roads are exposed to and accumulate PAHs on their exoskeletons, likely sourced from petrogenic vehicular emissions, highlighting their value as biomonitors and emphasizing the need for mitigation measures to address air pollutants emitted from mobile sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid emergence and evolution of renewable energy sources such as solar energy has become a vital component of the global effort to meet the energy needs of the future. The major concerns for continuous solar photovoltaic (PV) generation are degradation rate, hot spots. These factors lead to the negative impact on PV mismatch losses, fill factor, maximum power and efficiency. To improve the performance of PV system, the simplest solution is PV panel configuration hence in this paper spider web tie (SWT) based PV Panel configuration in proposed. The proposed configuration is implemented on KC200GT PV Panel of 5×5 size PV panels considering degradation rate, hot spot. The performance of SWT configuration is compared with series-parallel (SP), bridge-link (BL), tripletied (TT), and photovoltaic (PV) panel configurations and performance parameters such as Vmp, Imp, Pmp, Voc, Isc. FF, ∆Pml, and η are calculated in all the cases. In all the cases the proposed SWT configuration exhibited the improved performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Spiders are considered natural polyphagous bio-control agents of agro-ecosystems and the best indicators of environmental health. They have the ability to adapt to different environments and are, therefore, present in almost all types of terrestrial ecosystems. The behavior of spiders is influenced by different biotic and abiotic factors, such as roadside disturbance, which may affect normal web-building behavior. Spiders, Neoscona vigilans, were captured, body measurements were taken, and their web characteristics along the road premises were calculated. Web characteristics had a significant association with spider body characteristics and also with the distance from the road, which changed gradually as the webs were constructed closer to the road. Road disturbance had a negative impact on normal web construction as more defects were observed in the webs constructed closer to the road, while dramatically more perfect webs were observed as the distance from the road increased. We concluded that disturbances such as roadside traffic had diverse effects on spider behavior. The outcomes of this study provide insight into the role of traffic on the livelihood of spiders encountering human-influenced disturbance in the ecosystem. Orb web spiders are common and highly diversified animals found in almost all habitats. They have remarkable plasticity against biotic and abiotic factors, making them excellent indicators of environmental health. The web creation behavior of spiders is influenced by disturbances in the environment. The aim of this research was to observe the alteration in the web-building behavior of Neoscona vigilans caused by human activities, specifically traffic disturbances. Spider webs were located and photographed at nighttime along the roadside, and their web characteristics were calculated. Spiders were captured from webs for their body measurements. Spider fourth leg length, carapace width, and body length had a significant association with web size and diameter, CTL, capture area, and mesh size. The quantity of trapped prey, the height of the plant, and the foliage radius increased with the distance from the road. Conversely, anchor points and web elevation from the ground dropped. The highest and lowest proportions of anomalies (modifications/defects) were recorded as holes (52.7%) in 105 webs (100%) and supernumerary (0.7%) in 55 webs (52.4%), respectively. Road disturbance had a negative influence on the spider's behavior as the webs formed in close proximity to the road had a higher frequency of anomalies, with a gradual decrease distantly. We can gain further insight into how different environmental changes, disruptions, and pollutants lead to this imperfection in the otherwise flawless perfect structure of spider webs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In organisms, liquid as a continuum intertwines architected components (organs), including nervous, vascular, and musculoskeletal systems. In this regard, spiders exhibit remarkable embodiments where hemolymph, which infuses the animal, simultaneously enables muscle activation and exoskeleton compliance. Previous works on spider‐inspired artificial systems have focused on disentangled aspects, such as pressurization and flexible structures, yet organism‐like liquid‐mediated physical intelligence integrating control, distribution of resources, actuation, and support is still to be demonstrated. Here a spider‐leg‐inspired soft exoskeleton integrating a muscular system is shown, enabled by the contained liquid through hydration for compliance conditioning and charge transport for muscle activation. A two‐photon polymerized 0.8 mm‐diameter exoskeleton is reported that contains an electrolyte solution and is actuated via contraction of an ionic electroactive polymer muscle operated at 0–1 V. The exoskeleton features reversible bending and compliant interaction with natural entities such as anthers, spider webs, and pollen grains. The reported technology demonstrator, which functionally intertwines muscularization, vascularization, and innervation via liquid, supports the development of liquid‐enabled systems based on embodied energy and multi‐material design, particularly for bioinspired soft robotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Animals exhibit a variety of strategies to avoid predation; spiders are no exception. We explored whether web-building spiders that differ in the architecture of their webs exhibit morphologies or behaviors suggestive of antipredator strategies that trade-off with the degree of protection offered by their webs. Spiders build webs of 3 types: the more protected tangles and sheet-and-tangles, which are three-dimensional (3D), and the more exposed orbs, which are two-dimensional (2D), both with or without a refuge. We hypothesize that spiders whose webs offer greater protection—a 3D architecture or a refuge—will be less likely to be armored or brightly colored when compared to spiders without these protections. We collected data on 446 spiders and their webs in 2 lowland tropical rainforest sites. We show that 2D web builders with no refuges tended to be brightly colored (background contrasting) and spiny (spiky), whereas those with refuges tended to blend against the background of their refuges. 3D web builders, on the other hand, were neither cryptic nor brightly colored nor armored but were more likely to drop out of the web upon simulated predator contact. These results support the hypothesis that web-building spiders tend to be protected either through the architecture of their webs or their morphology and behavior, suggesting a trade-off between different types of antipredator strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, researchers are seeking to pay more attention to lightweight designs to minimize the materials used and greatly improve the strength of designs to increase their loading capacity in engineering applications. Bio-inspired patterns are given more attention in the design of these lightweight structures. In this current study, tensile specimens are fabricated as per the ASTM D638-IV standard and through the VAT photopolymerization technique with different bio-inspired patterns like honeycomb, re-entrant, and spider web structures, with unit cell sizes of 4 mm and 6 mm, respectively. Tensile tests are conducted on all the specimens, and all the test results are compared and evaluated to determine the one with the best performance. It was concluded that the 4 mm unit cell size specimens performed well, and spider web structures were shown to have especially satisfactory performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intricate interplay between predators and prey has long fascinated ecologists, with bats and their diverse prey offering insight into co‐evolutionary dynamics. While bats have evolved sophisticated strategies for prey capture, they also face predation pressure. Among their predators, spiders stand out for their diversity of predatory tactics, ranging from hunting assaults and web ensnarement to the deployment of venom. Yet, bat predation records by spiders are mostly from tropical regions, and cases remain notably scarce in temperate regions. Here, we report four new incidences of bat predation and mortality by spiders and their webs in Europe. Our observations include detailed photograph and video documentation of the first record of a spider capturing and consuming a bat pup in Spain, as well as accounts of bats entangled in spider webs on a building and inside bat boxes in the United Kingdom. These findings shed light on understudied predator–prey dynamics, offering valuable insights into spider predation on bats in European ecosystems. Our study emphasises the importance of continued research to improve our understanding of ecological interactions between these elusive and primarily nocturnal taxa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The paper aims to elaboration and discuss the spider web model and identify elements that code an organization's genome to determine its development potential and design changes. Design/methodology/approach: The first step was a literature review and elaboration and discuss the spider web model. Next, a survey questionnaire with closed questions was developed and used for research. The survey was a pilot addressed to purposefully sampled organisations. Through our choice of the sample—enterprises, an NGO, and a public institution—we emphasised the tool's versatility and demonstrated that identifying elements that codify an organisation's genome to determine its development potential applies to more than just businesses. An auxiliary in-depth interview was also conducted. Responses were collected using the CAWI technique. Findings: Elaboration and discuss the spider web model. It was established that all the investigated organisations have their specific genomes, sets of information, which characterise and guide their development. The case studies demonstrated that diagnosing and assessing the spider web model parameters is necessary to determine the organisation's development potential and find potential change opportunities. Research limitations/implications: The research was limited by a small sample of arbitrarily selected organisations. Still, the selection of organisations for the case studies was purposeful. We demonstrated that the spider web model can diagnose and assess parameters that codify an organisation's DNA in all types of organisations, enterprises, NGOs, and public institutions. It may also help identify areas in need of change to maintain the development potential. In light of the above, future research should include a more in-depth study of selected sectors to conduct a comparative analysis and offer generalised conclusions. Practical implications: The use of a questionnaire to diagnose the parameters of the spider web model in the design of changes within organizations. Social implications: Increase awareness among managers and people in organizations of the impact of DNA genome on organizational development. Originality/value: Discussing of the spider web model, indication of the parameters that build the DNA genome. Indication of integration and reconfiguration mechanisms in management systems consisting in the development and implementation of model solutions facilitating adaptation to dynamic exogenous and endogenous conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: We assessed the population genetic structure of the kleptoparasitic spider Argyrodes bonadea across the Southwestern Pacific islands. Our aim is to evaluate the impact of overseas distances and, in particular, the Kerama gap, as potential drivers of genetic differentiation. If no relationship exists, then we assume dispersal following adaptive change as alternative non‐vicariant mechanism that generates divergence. Location: Southwestern Pacific Islands. Taxon: Argyrodes bonadea. Methods: We used mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase 1 (CO1) gene sequences and Restriction Site‐associated DNA Sequencing (RAD‐seq) for our analyses. Results: Two strongly supported lineages, an Amami‐Okinawa Lineage (AOL) and an Austral‐Asia Lineage (AAL), correspond to two separate clades, roughly divided by the Kerama Gap, in phylogenetic trees estimated here. However, species delimitation led to the interpretation of only a single species present. The AOL exhibits complex, geographically structured host web spider species specificity, wherein the Amami population utilizes Cyrtophora, but AOL samples in Okinawa associate exclusively with Nephila—and yet all broadly distributed AAL populations show no evidence of host web spider species specificity. Main Conclusion: The population boundary between AOL and AAL likely results from local adaptation to novel hosts—instead of isolation by the Kerama Gap—following long‐distance dispersal and range expansion. Our results suggest kleptoparasitic spiders have the capacity to overcome permanent deep‐sea barriers and colonize distant landmasses. Whereas peripheral populations (AOL) demonstrate the capacity for specialization to a single host, which may have contributed to genetic differentiation and isolation, the broadly distributed AAL persists and has successfully expanded its geographical range as a host generalist, which may contribute to ongoing gene flow inferred in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ballooning is a mechanism of aerial dispersal present in some groups of spiders. By releasing silken threads that are blown by the wind, spiders can travel long distances through the air. Aglaoctenus lagotis is a wolf spider that lives its entire life associated with a funnel‐web, despite the wandering habit that characterizes species in this family. We can find two forms of the species in Uruguay, one of them a strict inhabitant of grasslands of Uruguay. The high habitat specificity and the spiderlings observed surrounding the maternal web suggest a low aerial dispersal capacity in this species. In this study, we tested whether A. lagotis spiderlings are capable of dispersing by ballooning. We conducted laboratory and field experiments during the day and night, to record the occurrence of ballooning and typical behaviours that precede ballooning. We recorded ballooning both in the laboratory and in the field, and it was more frequent during the day. Although it has been reported repeatedly in species from this family, we never observed the pre‐ballooning tip‐toeing behaviour in A. lagotis. Ballooning was preceded by dropping on dragline, considered a behaviour that could generate aerial dispersion of lesser distance than that generated by the tip‐toeing. In this paper, we shall discuss the implications of this form of aerial dispersal, considering that the species analysed is a web wolf spider. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spider silk is a promising material with great potential in biomedical applications due to its incredible mechanical properties and resistance to degradation of commercially available bacterial strains. However, little is known about the bacterial communities that may inhabit spider webs and how these microorganisms interact with spider silk. In this study, we exposed two exopolysaccharide-secreting bacteria, isolated from webs of an orb spider, to major ampullate (MA) silk from host spiders. The naturally occurring lipid and glycoprotein surface layers of MA silk were experimentally removed to further probe the interaction between bacteria and silk. Extensibility of major ampullate silk produced by Triconephila clavata that was exposed to either Microbacterium sp. or Novosphigobium sp. was significantly higher than that of silk that was not exposed to bacteria (differed by 58.7%). This strain-enhancing effect was not observed when the lipid and glycoprotein surface layers of MA silks were removed. The presence of exopolysaccharides was detected through NMR from MA silks exposed to these two bacteria but not from those without exposure. Here we report for the first time that exopolysaccharide-secreting bacteria inhabiting spider webs can enhance extensibility of host MA silks and silk surface layers play a vital role in mediating such effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In nature, spider web is an interwoven network with high stability and elasticity from silk threads secreted by spider. Inspired by the structure of spider webs, light‐driven liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) active yarn is designed with super‐contractile and robust weavability. Herein, a novel biomimetic gold nanorods (AuNRs) @LCE yarn soft actuator with hierarchical structure is fabricated by a facile electrospinning and subsequent photocrosslinking strategies. Meanwhile, the inherent mechanism and actuation performances of the as‐prepared yarn actuator with interleaving network are systematically analyzed. Results demonstrate that thanks to the unique "like‐spider webs" structure between fibers, high molecular orientation within the LCE microfibers and good flexibility, they can generate super actuation strain (≈81%) and stable actuation performances. Importantly, benefit from the robust covalent bonding at the organic–inorganic interface, photopolymerizable AuNRs molecules are uniformly introduced into the polymer backbone of electrospun LCE yarn to achieve tailorable shape‐morphing under different light intensity stimulation. As a proof‐of‐concept illustration, light‐driven artificial muscles, micro swimmers, and hemostatic bandages are successfully constructed. The research disclosed herein can offer new insights into continuous production and development of LCE‐derived yarn actuator that are of paramount significance for many applications from smart fabrics to flexible wearable devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The web-building skills of spiders made them strong from the evolutionary aspect. Spider webs are used in hunting, building nests, setting traps, and movement. The structure of web architecture, that of adhesive materials being produced, and that of cribellate offer important clues in order to understand their hunting behaviors. Spiders have different silk-spinning apparatuses, allowing them to produce different types of silk fibrils. While some spider species rely on webs for survival in nature, others can survive without them. Even though basic taxonomic features remain constant, the silk-spinning apparatuses of spiders might be subjected to adaptive variations. In the present study, the structural organization of the silk-spinning apparatus and the web architecture of the web-maker spider Uloborus walckenaerius Latreille, 1806 were observed by making use of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The web structure of U. walckenaerius, the characteristics of the spinnerets, especially the posterior spinneret, and the arrangement of the spigots are reported in this study. Adaptations of the silk-spinning apparatus, which has provided an evolutionary success to U. walckenaerius, were also analyzed. It was determined that the web structure consisted of very fine nanofibers and, differing from other groups, there also were crimped silk fibrils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of inclusive education in Eswatini schools has encountered challenges, particularly the low academic performance of learners with special educational needs (LSEN) integrated into mainstream classrooms. Given the curriculum's role as the cornerstone of education, this study aimed to determine whether the curriculum, in its entirety, considering each of the ten curriculum concepts outlined in Van den Akker's curricular spider web, accommodates these learners. The study employed a descriptive design and utilized a mixed methods approach. Two data collection methods were employed: semi-structured interviews and survey questionnaires. The findings revealed that the curriculum exhibits certain limitations in accommodating LSEN. These limitations can be categorized into teacher-related, pupil-related, school-related, and content-related factors. Based on the findings, it is recommended that the curriculum undergo a comprehensive review, taking into account all ten curriculum concepts. Additionally, the concept of inclusive education should be incorporated into the school syllabus to raise awareness among students. Schools should be provided with inclusion specialists to offer teacher and learner support for LSEN, and Consumer Science teachers should receive inclusion training at the undergraduate level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Egg transport and rough egg handling can have numerous negative effects on hatchability. The authors monitored mechanical effects under field conditions by acceleration sensors and then simulated the same scale effects using a modelling machine to verify the effects on hatchability. To measure and record mechanical effects-instantaneous acceleration (m/s²), three-dimensional HOBO® Pendant® G Data Logger were used. The RSS, RSM values calculated from the data from the accelerometer can serve as a point of reference for practitioners to see the mechanical effect level which results in significant negative impact on the hatchability results. It was also revealed that the measurement of the recorded values in the different directions and the minimum and maximum values are important too. Using the HOBO® Pendant® G Data Logger and detailed logging (the exact location of the logger at the time of the technological steps at a given time) can reveal the location of the maximum impact. By analysing RMS x, y, z, the type of impact can be determined. By combining these two pieces of two information, the technological failure can be clearly revealed and corrected. The measurement process described by the authors provides practical advice for hatching egg producers. Moreover, attention is drawn to the short-term damage effect on hatchability, since the 5-minute treatment at 20 Hz, prior incubation significantly reduced the hatchability (P < 0.05), which was achieved at the level of 10.02 RSS m/s² and 12.3 m/s² maximum value in the direction of x-axis. It is important for hatching egg producers to be aware that the damage to the mechanical effect is not only visible (broken, cracked eggshell), but can also negatively affect hatchability and thus the profitability of the sector. Furthermore, the typical "spider web" crack on the eggshell clearly refers to the mechanical impact caused by vibration. Der Transport von Bruteiern kann ebenso wie ein unsanfter Umgang zahlreiche negative Auswirkungen auf die Brutfähigkeit haben. Die Autoren überwachten mechanische Effekte unter Feldbedingungen mit Beschleunigungssensoren und simulierten dann mit einer Vibrationsplatte dieselben Skaleneffekte und überprüften die Auswirkung auf die Schlupffähigkeit. Zur Messung und Aufzeichnung mechanischer Effekte - Momentanbeschleunigung (m/s²) - wurden dreidimensionale HOBO® Pendant® G-Datenlogger verwendet. Die aus den Daten des Beschleunigungsmessers berechneten RSS- und RSM-Werte können Praktikern als Anhaltspunkt dienen, um zu sehen, wie hoch der mechanische Effekt ist, der sich erheblich negativ auf die Schlupfergebnisse auswirkt. Es zeigte sich auch, dass die Erfassung der Messwerte in verschiedene Richtungen, sowie auch die Minimal- und Maximalwerte wichtig sind. Durch die Verwendung des HOBO® Pendant® G-Datenloggers und eine detaillierte Protokollierung (der genaue Standort des Loggers zum Zeitpunkt der technologischen Schritte zu einem bestimmten Zeitpunkt) kann der Ort der maximalen Auswirkung ermittelt werden. Durch die Analyse von RMS x, y, z kann die Art des Aufpralls bestimmt werden. Durch die Kombination beider Informationen kann der technische Fehler eindeutig aufgedeckt und behoben werden. Das von den Autoren beschriebene Messverfahren gibt praktische Hinweise für Bruteiproduzenten. Darüber hinaus wird auf den kurzfristigen Schadenseffekt auf die Schlupffähigkeit hingewiesen, da die 5-minütige Behandlung bei 20 Hz im Vorfeld der Inkubation die Schlupffähigkeit deutlich reduzierte (P < 0,05), was ab 10,02 RSS m/s² erreicht wurde, Maximalwert 12,3 m/s² in Richtung der x-Achse. Es ist wichtig, dass sich Bruteiproduzenten darüber im Klaren sind, dass die Schäden durch die mechanische Einwirkung nicht nur sichtbar sind (zerbrochene, rissige Eischale), sondern sich auch negativ auf die Brutfähigkeit und damit auf die Rentabilität des Sektors auswirken können. Darüber hinaus weist der typische „Spinnennetz"-Riss auf der Eischale eindeutig auf die mechanische Einwirkung durch Vibration hin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fuzzy matching techniques are the presently used methods in translating the words. Neural machine translation and statistical machine translation are the methods used in MT. In machine translator tool, the strategy employed for translation needs to handle large amount of datasets and therefore the performance in retrieving correct matching output can be affected. In order to improve the matching score of MT, the advanced techniques can be presented by modifying the existing fuzzy based translator and neural machine translator. The conventional process of modifying architectures and encoding schemes are tedious process. Similarly, the preprocessing of datasets also involves more time consumption and memory utilization. In this article, a new spider web based searching enhanced translation is presented to be employed with the neural machine translator. The proposed scheme enables deep searching of available dataset to detect the accurate matching result. In addition, the quality of translation is improved by presenting an optimal selection scheme for using the sentence matches in source augmentation. The matches retrieved using various matching scores are applied to an optimization algorithm. The source augmentation using optimal retrieved matches increases the translation quality. Further, the selection of optimal match combination helps to reduce time requirement, since it is not necessary to test all retrieved matches in finding target sentence. The performance of translation is validated by measuring the quality of translation using BLEU and METEOR scores. These two scores can be achieved for the TA‐EN language pairs in different configurations of about 92% and 86%, correspondingly. The results are evaluated and compared with other available NMT methods to validate the work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a study that examines the mechanical properties of spider webs using a simple model. The researchers investigated how the shape and tension distribution of the web changed under different conditions. They found that a spider web with a higher tension distribution ratio handles loads better but is more vulnerable to damage. The study also found that the loss of radial segments can reduce hunting efficiency. The researchers suggest that a spider web with a high tension distribution ratio and reliable radial segments would be a good choice. The study emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of studying spider webs and suggests potential areas for future research. [Extracted from the article]

Argiope anasuja Thorell, 1887 is a species of orb-weaving spider found in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Despite its widespread distribution, little is known about its natural history and mating behavior. In this study, I describe some aspects of the natural history and mating behaviors of A. anasuja in captivity and in natural habitats. The spiders were found to occupy less shady areas close to water bodies, building their webs between 50 to 200 cm above the ground level. Web decorations were common in female webs, primarily in the central area, and consisted of dense zigzag bands of silk. A significant difference in copulation duration was observed between cannibalized and non-cannibalized individuals. Furthermore, a significant difference in copulation duration was found between individuals in natural environments and laboratory conditions. However, no significant difference was observed in courtship duration between individuals in natural environment and laboratory conditions. Understanding the mating behaviors of A. anasuja is important because they play a key role in determining the success of mating. This study highlights the natural history and mating behavior of A. anasuja, contributing to our understanding of this species in Sri Lanka. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As in other Palpimanidae, two pairs of posterior spinnerets present in typical Araneomorphae are vestigial in Palpimanus uncatusKulczyński, 1909, with only the anterior lateral spinneret (ALS) pair prominent. Nevertheless, in late juvenile and adult females, spigots appear in the ancestral posterior spinneret region (PS). Consistent with these spigots serving cylindrical silk glands, females construct substantial egg sacs. While juveniles and adults exhibit a compressed PS, in postembryos it is fully extended. Piriform silk gland (PI) spigots form a linear array on ALSs from the 1st stadium, increasing in number during ontogeny by addition of PIs of the tartipore-accommodated (T-A) subtype (i.e., functional during proecdyses). The number of T-A PIs added from one stadium to the next and locations occupied by their spigots often exhibit a stereotypic pattern, especially consistent in early instars. The number of non-T-A PIs remains constant through ontogeny from the 1st stadium: one per ALS rather than the two per ALS inferred in a few araneoids. The secondary major ampullate silk gland (2° MaA) spigot, primitively uni-shafted among araneomorphs, has become modified into a multi-shafted spigot with extended base, the number of shafts increasing during ontogeny. However, the multiple ducts that connect to the shafts continue to be accommodated during proecdysis by a single enormous tartipore. Sexual dimorphism is present, with late stadium females having greater numbers of T-A PI spigots and 2° MaA spigot shafts. Observations are presented pertaining to feeding behavior, sexual cannibalism (absent), habitat, winter diapause, numbers of molts, and longevity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community responses to those experiencing mental health crisis and distress are important. However, in Australia and many other colonised countries, responses to distress have become highly medicalised, punitive, individual and privatised. Exploring friendship responses to mental health crisis may increase the possibilities for building on community connectedness and local support networks. The work described in this paper aimed to make visible the acts of care, solidarity, friendship and mutuality that friends and members of the community have taken up in response to someone close to them experiencing distress. The work was guided by intentional peer support and narrative practices including re-authoring, collective documentation and outsider witnessing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Spider webs feature advanced structural performance due to the evolutionary success of over more than 3 × 109 years, including lightweight design and exceptional mechanical properties. Spider webs are appealing for bio-inspired design since web designs serve multiple functions including mechanical protection and prey catching. However, high computational cost and limited quantified web properties render extensive spider web studies challenging in part due to the high structural complexity and randomness of fiber arrangements in 3D webs. Here, we report a computational method to relate spider web graph microstructures to effective mechanical properties, focusing on strength and toughness, and upscaling from the microscopic to the mesoscale level. The new computational framework uses deep neural networks, trained on graph-structured Cyrtophora citricola spider web mechanical data, in order to capture complex cross-scale structural relationships. Three different models are developed and compared. First, two Graph Neural Network (GNN) models, a Graph Convolutional Network, and a Principal Neighborhood Aggregation method. Second, a GraphPerceiver transformer model that is fed similar input data as provided to the GNN approach but within a natural language modeling context using self-attention mechanisms. The GraphPerceiver model can achieve similar performance as the GNN model, offering added flexibility for building deep learning models of diverse hierarchical biological materials. As an application of the model, we propose a computational optimization tool for synthetic web design that is used to generate synthetic, de novo spider web architectures. Finally, multi-objective optimization enables us to discover web structures that meet specific mechanical properties as design objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Warp-knitted spacer fabrics are a widely considerable material owing to its unique sandwich structure and superior performance, employed across diverse fields such as military, transportation, construction, and personal protection. However, they are inevitably subjected to impacts in practical applications. This work investigated the influence of surface layer structure on the impact resistance property of fabrics by drop weight tests. The damage tolerance of warp-knitted spacer fabrics was also studied through repeated impact experiments. To further improve the impact resistance property of the fabric, a simple sewing method was proposed in this work. Inspired by the spiderweb structure, a spiderweb shape was sewn on the fabric. The results demonstrated that hexagonal mesh as the impact surface provided better impact resistance for the fabric. As the number of impacts increases, the deformation of the fabric gradually intensifies, and the fabric is completely damaged during the fourth impact. The stitch can enhance its impact resistance, and the shape of the stitch had a significant influence on the impact resistance performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Animals living in social groups often need to conduct certain tasks, such as prey capture or nest maintenance. We might expect individuals to specialize in these tasks, as specialization should increase efficiency and therefore group performance. In groups that vary in sex, morphology, or generation, these factors often determine task participation. However, in social groups where these factors are invariant, persistent individual differences in behavior may drive task specialization. We tested this prediction in groups of the social spider Anelosimus eximius, through experiments conducted on natural colonies in the field. We measured the response to a risky stimulus of individual spiders and then tested whether this predicted their location and/or activity when placed back in a colony. We found the more risk-prone individuals were more likely to be in the more exposed areas of the colony used for capturing prey. Irrespective of the risk-taking behavior, individuals rest and care for young in the protective region of the colony, while in the exposed area of the web individuals are more active and more likely to be walking. Therefore, individual's responses to risk showed an influence on where an individual would settle within the colony but had no effect on its activity. Our results support previous work that suggests adult A. eximius do not specialize in tasks. Indirect pathways for individual traits, via differences in spatial location or activity levels, may help to explain variation among-individuals in task participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reflective surface accuracy (RSA) of traditional space mesh antennas typically ranges from 0.2 to 6 mmRMS. To improve the RSA, an active control scheme can be employed, although it presents challenges in determining the installation position of the actuator. In this study, we propose a novel design for a semi-rigid cable mesh that combines rigid members and a flexible woven mesh, drawing inspiration from both rigid ribbed antennas and biomimicry. Initially, we investigate the planar mesh topology of spider webs and determine the bionic cable surface's mesh topology based on the existing hexagonal meshing method, with RSA serving as the evaluation criterion. Subsequently, through motion simulations and careful observation, we establish the offset angle as the key design parameter for the bionic mesh and complete the design of the bionic cable mesh accordingly. Finally, by analyzing the impact of the node quantity on RSA, we determine a layout scheme for the flexible woven mesh with a variable number of nodes, ultimately settling for 26 nodes. Our results demonstrate that the inclusion of numerous rigid components on the bionic cable mesh surface offers viable installation positions for the actuator of the space mesh antenna. The reflector accuracy achieved is 0.196 mmRMS, slightly surpassing the lower limit of reflector accuracy observed in most traditional space-space mesh antennas. This design presents a fresh research perspective on combining active control schemes with reflective surfaces, offering the potential to enhance the RSA of traditional rigid rib antennas to a certain extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Silk proteins have emerged as versatile biomaterials with unique chemical and physical properties, making them appealing for various applications. Among them, spider silk, known for its exceptional mechanical strength, has attracted considerable attention. Recombinant production of spider silk represents the most promising route towards its scaled production; however, challenges persist within the upstream optimization of host organisms, including toxicity and low yields. The high cost of downstream cell lysis and protein purification is an additional barrier preventing the widespread production and use of spider silk proteins. Gram-positive bacteria represent an attractive, but underexplored, microbial chassis that may enable a reduction in the cost and difficulty of recombinant silk production through attributes that include, superior secretory capabilities, frequent GRAS status, and previously established use in industry. Results: In this study, we explore the potential of gram-positive hosts by engineering the first production and secretion of recombinant spider silk in the Bacillus genus. Using an industrially relevant B. megaterium host, it was found that the Sec secretion pathway enables secretory production of silk, however, the choice of signal sequence plays a vital role in successful secretion. Attempts at increasing secreted titers revealed that multiple translation initiation sites in tandem do not significantly impact silk production levels, contrary to previous findings for other gram-positive hosts and recombinant proteins. Notwithstanding, targeted amino acid supplementation in minimal media was found to increase production by 135% relative to both rich media and unaltered minimal media, yielding secretory titers of approximately 100 mg/L in flask cultures. Conclusion: It is hypothesized that the supplementation strategy addressed metabolic bottlenecks, specifically depletion of ATP and NADPH within the central metabolism, that were previously observed for an E. coli host producing the same recombinant silk construct. Furthermore, this study supports the hypothesis that secretion mitigates the toxicity of the produced silk protein on the host organism and enhances host performance in glucose-based minimal media. While promising, future research is warranted to understand metabolic changes more precisely in the Bacillus host system in response to silk production, optimize signal sequences and promoter strengths, investigate the mechanisms behind the effect of tandem translation initiation sites, and evaluate the performance of this system within a bioreactor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human cartilage tissue remains a challenge for the development of therapeutic options due to its poor vascularization and reduced regenerative capacities. There are a variety of research approaches dealing with cartilage tissue engineering. In addition to different biomaterials, numerous cell populations have been investigated in bioreactor-supported experimental setups to improve cartilage tissue engineering. The concept of the present study was to investigate spider silk cocoons as scaffold seeded with adipose-derived stromal cells (ASC) in a custom-made bioreactor model using cyclic axial compression to engineer cartilage-like tissue. For chemical induction of differentiation, BMP-7 and TGF-β2 were added and changes in cell morphology and de-novo tissue formation were investigated using histological staining to verify chondrogenic differentiation. By seeding spider silk cocoons with ASC, a high colonization density and cell proliferation could be achieved. Mechanical induction of differentiation using a newly established bioreactor model led to a more roundish cell phenotype and new extracellular matrix formation, indicating a chondrogenic differentiation. The addition of BMP-7 and TGF-β2 enhanced the expression of cartilage specific markers in immunohistochemical staining. Overall, the present study can be seen as pilot study and valuable complementation to the published literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hox genes are known for their role in the specification of typical body plan features in animals. Evolutionary changes in Hox gene function are believed to be involved in the emergence of the diverse body plans we observe in animals today. Spiders share many body plan features with other arthropods, but also have numerous unique traits of their own. Studies of spider Hox genes have already provided insights into evolutionarily conserved and derived features of the spider body plan and their genetic basis. However, many aspects of Hox gene biology have been insufficiently studied in spiders so far. In this review, we highlight previous comparative studies of Hox genes in spiders and their significance for our understanding of the evolution of the spider body plan. We also identify aspects of Hox gene biology that need to be studied in greater detail. Many spider Hox genes have not been investigated beyond their mRNA expression patterns, and the role of Hox genes with apparently plesiomorphic or dual functions, like ftz and Hox3 is still unclear. Spiders have a duplicated Hox gene cluster, but possible sub- or neofunctionalisation of duplicates have not yet been studied systematically. Future research should therefore focus on these issues, in addition to the role of Polycomb and trithorax -mediated regulation, the identification of regulatory regions, cofactors or spider-specific target genes, and the significance of non-coding RNAs transcribed from within the Hox cluster and even from the antisense strand of particular Hox genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spiders in the genus Uloborus (Uloboridae) often include silken structures in their webs called stabilimenta or decorations whose function is still debated. Here, I report on the form, frequency, and construction of the decorations built by U. glomosus (Feather-legged Orbweaver) based on a field survey of 129 webs in southeastern North Carolina. About 87% of the webs were decorated. Among decorated webs, most (85%) consisted of 2 co-linear silk bands radiating from the hub. Other decoration types included a single radial band, central spirals, and a V-shaped device. A review of over 1300 images of Feather-legged Orbweaver curated at the online database iNaturalist revealed a further 5 rare or unique patterns. Decorations were aligned along the web's radius of steepest ascent. Decorating initiated from the web's center with the laying outward along a radial strand of a thin "guide" silk over which the decoration was laid from the outside inwards. These observations are similar to those seen in the 2 other species of Uloborus studied in detail, suggesting a uniformity of the behavior across the genus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Predators and prey have direct interactions that influence their short-term behaviors, including resource allocation and strategies for moving through habitats. However, the presently observed behaviors are the products of coevolutionary interactions, posited to be a history of measures and countermeasures between the predator and prey. We found that Argiope (orb-weaver) spiders in the continental USA appear to use a pheromone lure that mimics the mating pheromone of the day-flying Hemileuca moth (buck moth) to entice male moths into their webs. We found evidence that different phylogenetic groups of Hemileuca moths respond to the Argiope pheromone lure with a broad range of responses, ranging from indifferent to acutely strongly attracted, suggesting a coevolutionary history of predator–prey countermeasures. One of these countermeasures may be the potential evolution of moth developmental timing (adult emergence) to avoid Argiope predation in areas where the ranges of the moths and spiders overlap. Predator–prey coevolution, particularly chemo-ecological arms races, is challenging to study as it requires the integration of behavioral, chemical ecology, and phylogenetic studies in an amenable system. Moths of the genus Hemileuca (Saturniidae) are colorful, diurnal, and fast and often fly well above the vegetation canopy layer. However, several Hemileuca species have been reported as being captured in spider webs, specifically Argiope species (Araneidae). Female Hemileuca are known to produce mating pheromones and spiders of the Araneidae family are known to use pheromone lures to attract lepidopteran prey. We presented primarily female Argiope aurantia, which are attractive to male Anisota pellucida (Saturniidae), to different populations of Hemileuca species across the southern and western United States to categorize the homing response strength of different species of male Hemileuca. When we mapped these Argiope lure attraction strength categories onto the most recently published Hemileuca phylogeny, the behavioral patterns suggested a potential co-evolutionary arms race between predators and prey. Males of Hemileuca maia, H. grotei, and H. nevadensis (all in the same clade) appeared to have no attraction to A. aurantia, while H. magnifica and H. hera (within a different, separate clade) appeared to be strongly attracted to A. aurantia, but H. nuttalli (also within the H. hera and H. magnifica clade) displayed no attraction. Furthermore, Hemileuca eglanterina (yet a different clade) displayed strong, weak, and no attraction to A. aurantia, depending on the population. These apparent clade partitioning patterns of Argiope lure effectiveness and within-species variation in Hemileuca lure responses suggest a predator–prey coevolutionary history of measures and countermeasures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]