Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33077827›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2020

Free-standing spider silk webs of the thomisid Saccodomus formivorus are made of composites comprising micro- and submicron fibers.

Christian Haynl, Jitraporn Vongsvivut, Kai R H Mayer, Hendrik Bargel, Vanessa J Neubauer, Mark J Tobin, Mark A Elgar, Thomas Scheibel

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.2field-weighted citation impact, top 49% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Christian HaynlDepartment for Biomaterials, University of Bayreuth, Prof.-Rüdiger-Bormann-Str.1, 95447, Bayreuth, Germany.
Jitraporn VongsvivutANSTO Australian Synchrotron, Infrared Microspectroscopy Beamline, Clayton, VIC, 3168, Australia.
Kai R H MayerDepartment for Biomaterials, University of Bayreuth, Prof.-Rüdiger-Bormann-Str.1, 95447, Bayreuth, Germany.
Hendrik BargelDepartment for Biomaterials, University of Bayreuth, Prof.-Rüdiger-Bormann-Str.1, 95447, Bayreuth, Germany.
Vanessa J NeubauerDepartment for Biomaterials, University of Bayreuth, Prof.-Rüdiger-Bormann-Str.1, 95447, Bayreuth, Germany.
Mark J TobinANSTO Australian Synchrotron, Infrared Microspectroscopy Beamline, Clayton, VIC, 3168, Australia.
Mark A ElgarSchool of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia. m.elgar@unimelb.edu.au.
Thomas ScheibelDepartment for Biomaterials, University of Bayreuth, Prof.-Rüdiger-Bormann-Str.1, 95447, Bayreuth, Germany. thomas.scheibel@bm.uni-bayreuth.de.
University of Bayreuth · DEAustralian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation · AUUniversity of Melbourne · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Our understanding of the extraordinary mechanical and physico-chemical properties of spider silk is largely confined to the fibers produced by orb-weaving spiders, despite the diversity of foraging webs that occur across numerous spider families. Crab spiders (Thomisidae) are described as ambush predators that do not build webs, but nevertheless use silk for draglines, egg cases and assembling leaf-nests. A little-known exception is the Australian thomisid Saccodomus formivorus, which constructs a basket-like silk web of extraordinary dimensional stability and structural integrity that facilitates the capture of its ant prey. We examined the physical and chemical properties of this unusual web and revealed that the web threads comprise microfibers that are embedded within a biopolymeric matrix containing additionally longitudinally-oriented submicron fibers. We showed that the micro- and submicron fibers differ in their chemical composition and that the web threads show a remarkable lateral resilience compared with that of the major ampullate silk of a well-investigated orb weaver. Our novel analyses of these unusual web and silk characteristics highlight how investigations of non-model species can broaden our understanding of silks and the evolution of foraging webs.

Indexed as

AnimalsAustraliaPredatory BehaviorSilkSpidersSilk

Identifiers

PMID33077827
PMCPMC7572385
OpenAlexW3093066974

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.