scholarly journals Posture controls mechanical tuning in the black widow spider mechanosensory system

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natasha Mhatre ◽  
Senthurran Sivalinghem ◽  
Andrew C Mason
Keyword(s):  
Prey Capture ◽  
Abdominal Mass ◽  
Mechanical Vibration ◽  
The Body ◽  
Black Widow ◽  
Vibration Sensing ◽  
Black Widow Spiders ◽  
Freely Suspended ◽  
Pendulous Abdomen ◽  
Mechanical Tuning

Spiders rely on mechanical vibration sensing for sexual signalling, prey capture and predator evasion. The sensory organs underlying vibration detection, called slit sensilla, resemble cracks in the spider's exoskeleton, and are distributed all over the spider body. Those crucial to sensing web- and other substrate-borne vibrations are called lyriform organs and are densely distributed around leg joints. It has been shown that forces that cause bending at leg joints also activate these lyriform organs. Little is known of how the biomechanics of the body of a freely-suspended spider in its natural posture interact with vibrations introduced into the body and how this affects vibration perception. Female black widow spiders, in particular, have a striking body-form; their long thin legs support a large pendulous abdomen. Here, we show that in their natural posture, the large abdominal mass of black widow females, interacts with the spring-like behaviour of their leg joints and determines the mechanical behaviour of different leg joints. Furthermore, we find that adopting different body postures enables females to alter both the level and tuning of the mechanical input to lyriform organs. Therefore, we suggest that posture may be used to flexibly and reversibly focus attention to different classes or components of web vibration. Postural effects thus emphasize the dynamic loop of interactions between behaviour and perception, i.e. between 'brain' and body.

scholarly journals Foraging behavior and extended phenotype independently affect foraging success in spiders

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 1242-1249 ◽  
Author(s):  
N DiRienzo ◽  
H A Schraft ◽  
P O Montiglio ◽  
C T Bradley ◽  
A Dornhaus
Keyword(s):  
Prey Capture ◽  
Phenotypic Traits ◽  
Foraging Success ◽  
Black Widow ◽  
Live Prey ◽  
Correlational Selection ◽  
Web Structure ◽  
Functional Consequences ◽  
Black Widow Spiders ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract Multiple phenotypic traits often interact with each other to determine an individual’s fitness. Behavioral and extended phenotypic traits, such as architectural constructions, can contribute to fitness in an integrated way. The goal of this study was to understand how the interaction between behavioral and extended phenotypic traits can affect foraging success. We tested this question using black widow spiders, where spiders that are aggressive in a foraging context tend to build more gumfooted silk lines that aid in prey capture, while non-aggressive spiders build webs with fewer gumfooted lines. We repeatedly assessed behavior and web structure to quantify relationships between these traits, and then allowed spiders to forage for live prey on their own web or the web of a conspecific that differed in structure. Thus, we assessed how varying combinations of behavior and web structure affect foraging success, and if correlational selection might act on them. We confirmed that aggressiveness and number of gumfooted lines are positively correlated and found that capture success increased with both aggressiveness and the number of gumfooted lines. Yet, we did not find any evidence for correlational selection: aggressiveness and number of gumfooted lines appeared to affect foraging success independently of each other. These findings highlight that a correlation between traits that contribute towards the same ecological function does not necessarily imply correlational selection. Taking advantage of the experimental convenience afforded by extended phenotypic traits can provide insight into the functional consequences of phenotypic variation within and between individuals.

Whole body withdrawal circuit and its involvement in the behavioral hierarchy of the mollusk Clione limacina

1996 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 529-537 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. P. Norekian ◽  
R. A. Satterlie
Keyword(s):  
Feeding Behavior ◽  
Motor Neurons ◽  
Prey Capture ◽  
The Body ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
High Threshold ◽  
Behavioral Repertoire ◽  
Withdrawal Behavior ◽  
Cerebral Neurons ◽  
Clione Limacina

1. The behavioral repertoire of the holoplanktonic pteropod mollusk Clione limacina includes a few well-defined behaviors organized in a priority sequence. Whole body withdrawal takes precedence over slow swimming behavior, whereas feeding behavior is dominant over withdrawal. In this study a group of neurons is described in the pleural ganglia, which controls whole body withdrawal behavior in Clione. Each pleural withdrawal (Pl-W) neuron has a high threshold for spike generation and is capable of inducing whole body withdrawal in a semi-intact preparation: retraction of the body-tail, wings, and head. Each Pl-W neuron projects axons into the main central nerves and innervates all major regions of the body. 2. Stimulation of Pl-W neurons produces inhibitory inputs to swim motor neurons that terminate swimming activity in the preparation. In turn, Pl-W neurons receive inhibitory inputs from the cerebral neurons involved in the control of feeding behavior in Clione, neurons underlying extrusion of specialized prey capture appendages. Thus it appears that specific inhibitory connections between motor centers can explain the dominance of withdrawal behavior over slow swimming and feeding over withdrawal in Clione.

scholarly journals Vibration-Sensing Electronic Yarns for the Monitoring of Hand Transmitted Vibrations

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (8) ◽  
pp. 2780
Author(s):  
Zahra Rahemtulla ◽  
Theodore Hughes-Riley ◽  
Tilak Dias
Keyword(s):  
Monitoring System ◽  
Index Finger ◽  
Textile Yarn ◽  
The Body ◽  
Severe Injuries ◽  
The Core ◽  
Vibration Sensing ◽  
Yarn Structure ◽  
Fabric Sample ◽  
Power Tools

Overexposure to hand transmitted vibrations (HTVs) from prolonged use of vibrating power tools can result in severe injuries. By monitoring the exposure of a worker to HTVs, overexposure, and injury, can be mitigated. An ideal HTV-monitoring system would measure vibration were it enters the body, which for many power tools will be the palm and fingers, however this is difficult to achieve using conventional transducers as they will affect the comfort of the user and subsequently alter the way that the tool is held. By embedding a transducer within the core of a textile yarn, that can be used to produce a glove, vibration can be monitored close to where it enters the body without compromising the comfort of the user. This work presents a vibration-sensing electronic yarn that was created by embedding a commercially available accelerometer within the structure of a yarn. These yarns were subsequently used to produce a vibration-sensing glove. The purpose of this study is to characterize the response of the embedded accelerometer over a range of relevant frequencies and vibration amplitudes at each stage of the electronic yarn’s manufacture to understand how the yarn structure influences the sensors response. The vibration-sensing electronic yarn was subsequently incorporated into a fabric sample and characterized. Finally, four vibration-sensing electronic yarns were used to produce a vibration-sensing glove that is capable of monitoring vibration at the palm and index finger.

scholarly journals The Relationship between Vibratory Sensation and Body Surface Vibration Induced by Low-Frequency Noise

2002 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yukio Takahashi ◽  
Kazuo Kanada ◽  
Yoshiharu Yonekawa
Keyword(s):  
Body Surface ◽  
Mechanical Vibration ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
The Body ◽  
Frequency Noise ◽  
Low Frequency Noise ◽  
Vibration Acceleration ◽  
Surface Vibration ◽  
Human Body Surface ◽  
The Relationship

Human body surface vibration induced by low-frequency noise was measured at the forehead, the chest and the abdomen. At the same time, subjects rated their vibratory sensation at each of these locations. The relationship between the measured vibration on the body surface and the rated vibratory sensation was examined, revealing that the vibratory sensations perceived in the chest and abdomen correlated closely with the vibration acceleration levels of the body surface vibration. This suggested that a person exposed to low-frequency noise perceives vibration at the chest or abdomen by sensing the mechanical vibration that the noise induces in the body. At the head, on the other hand, it was found that the vibratory sensation correlated comparably with the vibration acceleration level of the body surface vibration and the sound pressure level of the noise stimulus. This finding suggested that the mechanism of perception of vibration in the head is different from that of the perception of vibratory sensation in the chest and the abdomen.

Black widow spiders in an urban desert: Population variation in an arthropod pest across metropolitan Phoenix, AZ

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 599-609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Trubl ◽  
Theresa Gburek ◽  
Lindsay Miles ◽  
J. Chadwick Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Population Variation ◽  
Black Widow ◽  
Black Widow Spiders ◽  
Arthropod Pest

Research of Ni-Mn-Ga Shape Memory Alloy Based Mechanical Vibration Detection Device

2014 ◽  
Vol 1006-1007 ◽  
pp. 845-848
Author(s):  
Yong Zhi Cai
Keyword(s):  
Shape Memory Alloy ◽  
Shape Memory ◽  
Mechanical Vibration ◽  
Vibration Signal ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Vibration Measurements ◽  
Vibration Detection ◽  
Vibration Sensing

The study explores the vibration sensing effect of Ni-Mn-Ga shape memory alloy, based on the experimental results, researched the characteristics of this alloy applied in mechanical vibration signal sensors, and describes the feasibility of this alloy used for vibration measurements.

The Effect of Labyrinthectomy on the Co-ordination of Limb Movements in the Toad

1947 ◽  
Vol 24 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 36-41
Author(s):  
J. GRAY ◽  
H. W. LISSMANN
Keyword(s):  
Normal Animal ◽  
The Body ◽  
Limb Movements ◽  
Membranous Labyrinth ◽  
Freely Suspended ◽  
Two Sides

1. After bilateral labyrinthectomy, a toad can only walk normally if the stimulus which excites it to move is applied symmetrically on the two sides of the body. If the stimulus is asymmetrical, the animal's path curves towards the unstimulated side; if the stimulus is relatively intense the animal ‘circles’ persistently towards the unstimulated side. The ambulatory response of a normal animal to an asymmetrical stimulus is dependent on both proprioceptive and labyrinthine activity. 2. After bilateral labyrinthectomy, both hindlimbs exhibit swimming movements when the animal is freely suspended in water but co-ordination between the two limbs is lost. Evidence is put forward which suggests that the swimming rhythm of the limbs may be dependent on rhythmical excitation of the membranous labyrinth. No swimming occurs when the limbs of a labyrinthectomized toad are de-afferentated. 3. The removal of both labyrinths does not abolish the power of the limbs to right the animal when placed on its back. The mechanics of the righting movement are described.

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