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CRIBELLATE STRUCTURE. "Cribellate silk is composed of a pair of axial fibres (produced by the pseudo-flagelliform glands) surrounded by a sheath of microscopic fibrils that are brushed onto the axial fibres from a specialized plate called a cribellum. This silk is dry and achieves its stickiness via hygroscopic and van der Waals forces." https://lnkd.in/dqTjK77 View in LinkedIn

STRUCTURAL STRENGTH. "Webs with a low radial to spiral turn ratio can be classed as low-energy absorbing, while webs with a high radial to spiral turn ratio are high-energy absorbing." https://lnkd.in/dqTjK77 View in LinkedIn

RADIAL THREADS. "The high tensile strength and hysteresis of radial threads means they not only support the web but also work as shock absorbers during prey impact, while the geometric regularity of the web may help to spread prey energy out over more radial threads. Also, as radials have high tensile strength and stiffness while capture silks have lower strength but high elasticity, the ratio of radials to capture spiral turns may determine the energy-absorbing capabilities of a web." https://lnkd.in/dqTjK77 View in LinkedIn

DURABILITY. "While silks in general are very long-lived materials, theridiid webs do not contain viscid (flagelliform) silk, which shows a much more rapid decline in mechanical properties when compared with dragline silk. Factors driving evolution beyond the orb-web remain largely unexplored and too often neglect the role of silk properties despite silk being central to web function." https://lnkd.in/dqTjK77 View in LinkedIn

DEGREES OF PERMANENCE. "Three-dimensional webs tend to be more permanent structures when compared with many orb-webs that are often replaced daily. This will perhaps select for silks better equipped to deal with repeated and prolonged stresses, and for silks more resistant to permanent deformation (i.e. higher yield values)." https://lnkd.in/dqTjK77 View in LinkedIn

GEOMETRIC CONSIDERATIONS. "Sheet-webs and cobwebs generally exhibit reduced geometric regularity when compared with orb-webs, although within species there is still a high degree of structural stereotypy. The reduced geometric regularity and decreased use of capture silk in cobwebs and sheet-webs make them absorb prey energy very differently from orb-webs." https://lnkd.in/dqTjK77 View in LinkedIn

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ORB-WEB ORIGINS. "Recent evidence that combines both morphological and molecular data indicates that linyphiid sheet-webs and theridiid cobwebs each evolved independently from orb-webs. The huge diversity within these families, along with the frequent reduction of orb-webs within the ‘traditional’ orb-spinning families, suggests that the orb-web has provided a platform for the further rapid evolution of novel web structures." https://lnkd.in/dqTjK77 View in LinkedIn

EVOLUTIONARY TRENDS. "In addition to modified orb-webs for prey specialization, there is a strong evolutionary trend among derived orbicularian spiders towards smaller body and web size, as well as for webs that enclose three-dimensional spaces." https://lnkd.in/dqTjK77 View in LinkedIn

"SPECIALIST WEBS are in most cases greatly reduced in size and complexity when compared with typical orbs, in the most extreme cases consisting of only single lines of silk. Particularly for reduced webs, spiders cannot rely on the highly geometric orb-web structure to assist in energy dissipation and must instead depend to a greater extent on the biomechanical properties of individual silk threads." https://lnkd.in/dqTjK77 View in LinkedIn