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The Calamistrum of the Feather-Legged Spider Uloborus plumipes Investigated by Focused Ion Beam and Scanning Electron Microscopy (FIB–SEM) Tomography

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2018

Alexander Heiss Open the ORCID record for Alexander Heiss [Opens in a new window] ,
Daesung Park  and
Anna-Christin Joel
Alexander Heiss*
Affiliation:
The Research Institute for Precious Metals and Metals Chemistry (fem), Katharinenstrasse 17, 73525 Schwaebisch Gmuend, Germany
Daesung Park
Affiliation:
Central Facility for Electron Microscopy, RWTH Aachen University, Ahornstrasse 55, 52074 Aachen, Germany
Anna-Christin Joel
Affiliation:
Institute for Biology II, RWTH Aachen University, Worringerweg 3, 52074 Aachen, Germany Westphalian Institute of Biomimetics, Westphalian University of Applied Science, Muensterstrasse 265, 46397 Bocholt, Germany
*
Author for correspondence: Alexander Heiss, E-mail: alexander.heiss@post.rwth-aachen.de
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Abstract

Spiders are natural specialists in fiber processing. In particular, cribellate spiders manifest this ability as they produce a wool of nanofibers to capture prey. During its production they deploy a sophisticated movement of their spinnerets to darn in the fibers as well as a comb-like row of setae, termed calamistrum, on the metatarsus which plays a key role in nanofiber processing. In comparison to the elaborate nanofiber extraction and handling process by the spider’s calamistrum, the human endeavors of spinning and handling of artificial nanofibers is still a primitive technical process. An implementation of biomimetics in spinning technology could lead to new materials and applications. Despite the general progress in related fields of nanoscience, the expected leap forward in spinning technology depends on a better understanding of the specific shapes and surfaces that control the forces at the nanoscale and that are involved in the mechanical processing of the nanofibers, respectively. In this study, the authors investigated the morphology of the calamistrum of the cribellate spider Uloborus plumipes. Focused ion beam and scanning electron microscopy tomography provided a good image contrast and the best trade-off between investigation volume and spatial resolution. A comprehensive three-dimensional model is presented and the putative role of the calamistrum in nanofiber processing is discussed.

Keywords

cribellate spidersetaenanofiber processingcapture threadFIB–SEM tomography
Type
Biological Science Applications
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 24 , Issue 2 , April 2018 , pp. 139 - 146
Copyright
© Microscopy Society of America 2018 

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Footnotes

†

Current address: University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-5050, USA.

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