Attachment Structures and Adhesive Secretions in Arachnids

194 Pages·2016·10.13 MB·English

by  Jonas O. Wolff

Biologically-Inspired Systems
Jonas O. Wolff
Stanislav N. Gorb
Attachment
Structures
and Adhesive
Secretions
in Arachnids
Biologically-Inspired Systems
Volume 7
Series Editor
Prof. Dr. Stanislav N. Gorb, Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/8430
Jonas O. Wolff • Stanislav N. Gorb
Attachment Structures
and Adhesive Secretions
in Arachnids
Jonas O. Wolff Stanislav N. Gorb
Functional Morphology and Biomechanics Functional Morphology and Biomechanics
Zoological Institute Zoological Institute
Kiel University Kiel University
Kiel, Germany Kiel, Germany
Department of Biological Sciences
Macquarie University
Sydney, Australia
Supplementary videos to this book can be accessed at http://www.springerimages.com/
videos/978-3-319-45712-3
ISSN 2211-0593 ISSN 2211-0607 (electronic)
Biologically-Inspired Systems
ISBN 978-3-319-45712-3 ISBN 978-3-319-45713-0 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-45713-0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016957511
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Preface
In 1974, Nachtigall, one of the pioneers of biomimetics, compiled the first review
on means of attachment in nature, aiming to be understandable for both biologists
and engineers (Biological Mechanisms of Attachment). Sixteen years later, one of us
followed up on this exciting approach and compiled the first comprehensive over-
view on attachment structures in arthropods, with a particular focus on insects
(Attachment Devices of Insect Cuticle). Later, the books Biological Adhesives edited
by Smith and Callow (2007) and Biological Adhesive Systems edited by von Byern
and Grunwald (2010) provided an excellent overview on biological adhesive
secretions.
With this book, we focus on the second largest class of animals, belonging to
some of the most diverse and most abundant organisms on earth, but to date highly
neglected in terms of bioadhesion: the arachnids, which include, among others, spi-
ders, mites, harvestmen and scorpions. Arachnids differ in many regards from other
arthropods, like insects and crustaceans, and spider silk is not the only example for
the evolution of high-performance biological materials in the spotlight of biomimet-
ics and bioengineering. Our book both reviews current literature on attachment
devices and adhesive secretions in arachnids and presents novel, previously unpub-
lished data, in order to provide a comprehensive (but by no means complete) over-
view on this subject.
Our studies would not have been possible without the continuous support by
numerous peers and private persons, supplying material and/or photographs and
bringing in their expertise and skills: Siegfried Huber (Mühlhofen); Michael Seiter
(University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna); Dr. Axel Schönhofer
(Nackenheim); Esther Appel, Dr. Lars Heepe, Achim Oesert, Fabienne Frost, Jessica
Nahrstedt, Ingo Grawe, Marina Wirth, Kirstin Dening, Theresa Gödel, André
Karstedt, Chantal Wiegmann, Neele Ott and Nadine Sydow (University of Kiel); Dr.
Peter Jäger and Julia Altmann (Senckenberg Research Institute Frankfurt); Prof. Gerd
Alberti, Dr. Peter Michalik, Dr. Katrin Kunz, Melanie Witthuhn and Dr. Anja Klann
(University of Greifswald); Prof. Jochen Martens (Johannes Gutenberg University
v
vi Preface
Mainz); Prof. Wolfgang Nentwig, Dr. Lucia Kuhn-Nentwig and Benjamin Eggs
(University of Bern); Prof. Jutta Schneider, Tomma Dirks and Angelika Taebel-
Hellwig (University of Hamburg); Rainer Foelix (Neue Kantonsschule Aarau);
Martín Ramírez and Ivan Magalhães (Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales);
Facundo Labarque and Darrell Ubick (California Academy of Sciences); Prof.
Rosemary Gillespie (University of California, Berkeley); Dr. Christopher Taylor
(Curtin University, Perth); Hay Wijnhoven (Nijmegen); Prof. Glauco Machado and
Solimary García-H ernandez (University of São Paulo); Dr. Daria Bajerlein (Adam
Mickiewicz University); Dr. Steffen Bayer (State Museum of Natural History,
Karlsruhe); Pedro Coelho (CIBIO Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic
Resources); Dr. Suresh Benjamin (Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig,
Bonn); Arno Grabolle (Weimar); Michael Schäfer (Berlin); Jürgen Guttenberger
(Lauterhofen); Sylvia Voss (Borkwalde); Carsten Wieczorrek (Köln); Jörg Pageler
(Oldenburg); Salvatore Canu (Usini); Tobias Bellmann (on behalf of his deceased
father Dr. Heiko Bellmann); Dr. Walter Pfliegler; Arthur Anker; Markus Gottlieb;
Tobias Töpfer; Lennart Bendixen; and Martin Lemke. We would like to use the
opportunity to express our warm thanks to all of them.
We sincerely thank the German National Merit Foundation (Studienstiftung des
Deutschen Volkes) for the PhD scholarship and Macquarie University for the
research fellowship to J.O. Wolff, making this study possible. Additionally, this
work has been supported by various DFG (German Science Foundation) and BMBF
(Federal Ministry of Science and Education, Germany) grants to S.N. Gorb.
Special thanks to Springer Publishers, especially Zuzana Bernhart and Mariska
van der Stigchel, for their professional guidance at different stages of the manu-
script preparation.
Kiel, Germany Jonas O. Wolff
Stanislav N. Gorb
Structure and function of biological systems as inspiration for technical developments
Throughout evolution, organisms have evolved an immense variety of materials,
structures, and systems. This book series deals with topics related to structure-function
relationships in diverse biological systems and shows how knowledge from biol-
ogy can be used for technical developments (bio-inspiration, biomimetics).
vii
Contents
1 Overview .................................................................................................. 1
1.1 Introduction .................................................................................... 1
1.2 The Arachnid Orders ..................................................................... 2
1.2.1 Spiders (Araneae) ............................................................ 2
1.2.2 Scorpions (Scorpiones) .................................................... 3
1.2.3 Harvestmen (Opiliones) ................................................... 3
1.2.4 Whip-Spiders (Amblypygi) ............................................. 3
1.2.5 Whip-Scorpions (Uropygi) .............................................. 4
1.2.6 Camel Spiders (Solifugae) ............................................... 4
1.2.7 Pseudoscorpions (Pseudoscorpiones) .............................. 4
1.2.8 Mites and Ticks (Acari) ................................................... 5
1.2.9 Hooded Tickspiders (Ricinulei) ....................................... 6
1.2.10 Micro-Whipscorpions (Palpigradi) .................................. 6
1.3 Material and Methods .................................................................... 6
1.3.1 Literature Survey and Material Origin ............................. 6
1.3.2 Light Microscopy ............................................................. 7
1.3.3 Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) ............................ 7
1.3.4 High Speed Videography (HSV) ..................................... 8
1.3.5 Pull-off Force Measurements ........................................... 8
1.4 Terminology ................................................................................... 9
1.5 D istribution of Attachment Principles Among Arachnids ............. 11
1.5.1 Spiders ............................................................................. 16
1.5.2 Harvestmen ...................................................................... 19
1.5.3 Mites and Ticks ................................................................ 19
References ................................................................................................. 22
ix
x Contents
2 Mechanical Attachment Devices ............................................................ 25
2.1 Claws ............................................................................................. 26
2.2 S pines and Pointed Hairs ............................................................... 30
2.2.1 Spines ............................................................................... 30
2.2.2 Microtrichious Setae ........................................................ 32
2.3 Other Interlocking Devices ............................................................ 34
2.3.1 Hooks and Platelets .......................................................... 34
2.3.2 Mechanical Mating Plugs in Spiders ............................... 35
2.3.3 Interlocking of Silk Threads ............................................ 36
2.4 Pincers and Clamps ........................................................................ 36
2.4.1 Chelicerae ........................................................................ 37
2.4.2 Chelae .............................................................................. 39
2.4.3 Clamping Legs ................................................................. 40
2.4.4 Raptorial Legs .................................................................. 43
2.4.5 Cucullus ........................................................................... 44
2.5 Expansion Anchors ........................................................................ 44
2.6 Lock-and-Key ................................................................................ 45
2.7 Wrapping ....................................................................................... 45
2.7.1 Silk Wrapping .................................................................. 46
2.7.2 The Prehensile Feet of Harvestmen ................................. 46
References ................................................................................................. 48
3 Tape- and Spatula-Shaped Microstructures ......................................... 53
3.1 Introduction .................................................................................... 53
3.2 Spatulate Setae ............................................................................... 55
3.3 Spatulate Microtrichia ................................................................... 58
3.3.1 Tenent Setae of Spiders.................................................... 58
3.3.2 Tenent Microtrichia of Trombidiform Mites ................... 64
3.4 Spatulate Surface Structures .......................................................... 66
3.5 Micro-tapes .................................................................................... 67
References ................................................................................................. 68
4 Nano-fibres .............................................................................................. 71
4.1 C ribellate and Aciniform Silk ........................................................ 72
4.1.1 Cribellar Capture Thread ................................................. 72
4.1.2 Bridging Threads and Wrapping Silk .............................. 74
4.2 Particle Catching Setae .................................................................. 75
4.3 F ibrillar Locomotory Pads Lacking Spatula .................................. 76
References ................................................................................................. 77
5 Mushroom-Shaped Microstructures ..................................................... 79
5.1 Introduction .................................................................................... 79
5.2 Cuticular Mushroom-Shaped Microstructures .............................. 80
5.3 Mushroom-Shaped Secretion Products .......................................... 81