Mortimer, B., Holland, C., Windmill, J.F. et al. (1 more author) (2015) Unpicking the signal thread of the sector web spider Zygiella x-notata. Interface, 12 (113). ISSN 1742-5662
Abstract
Remote sensing allows an animal to extend its morphology with appropriate conductive materials and sensors providing environmental feedback from spatially removed locations. For example, the sector web spider Zygiella x-notata uses a specialized thread as both a structural bridge and signal transmitter to monitor web vibrations from its retreat at the web perimeter. To unravel this model multifunctional system, we investigated Zygiella's signal thread structure with a range of techniques, including tensile testing, laser vibrometry, electron microscopy and behavioural analysis. We found that signal threads varied significantly in the number of filaments; a result of the spider adding a lifeline each time it runs along the bridge. Our mechanical property analysis suggests that while the structure varies, its normalized load does not. We propose that the signal thread represents a complex and fully integrated multifunctional structure where filaments can be added, thus increasing absolute load-bearing capacity while maintaining signal fidelity. We conclude that such structures may serve as inspiration for remote sensing design strategies.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2015 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. |
Keywords: | remote sensing; silk; spider; vibration |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Materials Science and Engineering (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 14 Jan 2016 16:24 |
Last Modified: | 14 Jan 2016 16:24 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2015.0633 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | The Royal Society |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1098/rsif.2015.0633 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:93263 |