Biomaterials: Silk-like secretion from tarantula feet

An unsuspected attachment mechanism may help these huge spiders to avoid catastrophic falls.Spiders spin silk from specialized structures known as abdominal spinnerets - a defining feature of the creatures - and this is deployed to capture prey, protect themselves, reproduce and disperse. Here we sh...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature 2006-09, Vol.443 (7110), p.407-407
Main Authors: Gorb, S.N, Niederegger, S, Hayashi, C.Y, Summers, A.P, Vötsch, W, Walther, P
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adhesion
Adhesiveness
Animals
Aphonopelma
Aphonopelma seemanni
Araneae
Biology
Costa Rica
Extremities - physiology
feet
Materials science
secretion
silk
Silk - chemistry
Spiders
Spiders - chemistry
Spiders - physiology
tarsus (ankle region)
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Summary:An unsuspected attachment mechanism may help these huge spiders to avoid catastrophic falls.Spiders spin silk from specialized structures known as abdominal spinnerets - a defining feature of the creatures - and this is deployed to capture prey, protect themselves, reproduce and disperse. Here we show that zebra tarantulas (Aphonopelma seemanni) from Costa Rica also secrete silk from their feet to provide adhesion during locomotion, enabling these spiders to cling to smooth vertical surfaces. Our discovery that silk is produced by the feet provides a new perspective on the origin and diversification of spider silk.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
1476-4679
DOI:10.1038/443407a