In situations of aggressive mimicry, predators adapt their color to that of the substrate on which they sit for hunting, a behavior that is presumed to hide them from prey as well as from their own predators. Females of few crab-spider species encounter such situations when lying on flowers to ambush pollinators. To evaluate the efficiency of spider camouflage on flowers, we measured by spectro...

Inducible anti-herbivore defenses in plants are predominantly regulated by jasmonic acid (JA). On tomato plants, most genotypes of the herbivorous generalist spider mite Tetranychus urticae induce JA defenses and perform poorly on it, whereas the Solanaceae specialist Tetranychus evansi, who suppresses JA defenses, performs well on it. We asked to which extent these spider mites and the predato...

Reconstruction of the bladder by means of both natural and synthetic materials remains a challenge due to severe adverse effects such as mechanical failure. Here we investigate the application of spider major ampullate gland-derived dragline silk from the Nephila edulis spider, a natural biomaterial with outstanding mechanical properties and a slow degradation rate, as a potential scaffold for ...

Georgia is on the southeastern margin of the native range of the brown recluse spider, Loxosceles reclusa Gertsch and Mulaik. The brown recluse is not a common Georgia spider and has limited distribution in the state. Using recent submissions, previously published records, and examination of museum specimens, we document the spider's presence in 31 (19.5%) of Georgia's 159 counties, with almost...

Plants under herbivore attack are able to initiate indirect defense by synthesizing and releasing complex blends of volatiles that attract natural enemies of the herbivore. However, little is known about how plants respond to infestation by multiple herbivores, particularly if these belong to different feeding guilds. Here, we report the interference by a phloem-feeding insect, the whitefly Bem...

Spiders represent an ancient predatory lineage known for their extraordinary biomaterials, including venoms and silks. These adaptations make spiders key arthropod predators in most terrestrial ecosystems. Despite ecological, biomedical, and biomaterial importance, relationships among major spider lineages remain unresolved or poorly supported. Current working hypotheses for a spider "backbone"...

The present investigation focused on late event-related potentials (ERPs) and facial electromyographic (EMG) activity in response to symptom provocation in 8- to 12-year-old spider phobic girls and compared results to those in non-fearful controls. Fourteen patients and 14 controls were presented with phobia-relevant, generally fear-inducing, disgust-inducing and affectively neutral pictures in...

BACKGROUND Prenatal or embryonic learning, behavioral change following experience made prior to birth, may have significant consequences for postnatal foraging behavior in a wide variety of animals, including mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, and molluscs. However, prenatal learning has not been previously shown in arthropods such as insects, spiders and mites. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS ...

BACKGROUND: Chemical control of spider mites and thrips in everbearer strawberry is difficult as few efficient chemicals are available and residues represent a risk. In the north the success of biocontrol of mites and thrips in open fields compared with tunnels needs to be evaluated. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the need for control of spider mites and thrips and evaluate the effectiveness of bio...

Spiders are a megadiverse group that can be useful indicators of the overall species richness and health of biotic communities. The spider diversity in subtropical forests of the Neotropical region are not yet well known, especially in Argentinean subtropical forests where systematic fieldwork has not been done until recently. The Great Chaco is very important as the unique dry subtropical fore...