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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Kronenberger K
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4321147 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Biology letters 20150101 1
Most spider threads are on the micrometre and sub-micrometre scale. Yet, there are some spiders that spin true nano-scale fibres such as the cribellate orb spider, Uloborus plumipes. Here, we analyse the highly specialized capture silk-spinning system of this spider and compare it with the silk extrusion systems of the more standard spider dragline threads. The cribellar silk extrusion system consists of tiny, morphologically basic glands each terminating through exceptionally long and narrow du ...[more]