For April's Cafe Sci talk, Dr Sara Goodacre, who is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences at the University of Nottingham (and runs the UoN Spider Lab) gave a talk entitled "Arachnoglobia - what makes a spider fly?"
@Gav Squires was there and has kindly written this guest post summarising the event, with some linkage added by NSB.
Spiders eat pests. If we could work out how to control their populations then we could end up with a more environmentally friendly world.
The spider family is 400million years old. Spiders have adapted to their world in many ways. Why, and how do these difference help the spider to adapt? In a single species of spider, why does more than type persist? The adaptations that they have are all relative to each other. Even in a single species, different morphs can exist in different parts of the world. To our eyes these morphs look different but they can appear as different again under UV light. In fact, Crab spiders pretend to be nectar to catch bees. This effect can only be seen in UV but it works because bees see in UV.
In some cases, spiders are finding the same solutions to survival - some can have the same shape for a completely different genus. Co-operation can also solve some problems. Some spiders live in groups and they live in perfect harmony with each other. We've seen this in 9 species of spider, which is impressive but there are 40,000 types of spiders in the world. Those that do live in close family groups end up inbreeding. However, after 9-10million years of this, there appear to be no adverse effects. There is also a huge female bias when it comes to spiders in group living conditions.
Being able to move long distances also helps. Lingphiids are common in disturbed, agricultural environments. Many are capable of dispersing long distances by spinning out a line of silk and using it to take off. This is how they can end up on a farmer's field even after they have sprayed pesticide. You can find around 100 spiders in the space the size of an average table and they eat 25 times their body weight in pests every week. Spiders are 1000 times more impacted by insecticide than whatever you're trying to kill. How many of these flying spiders carry resistance to pesticides with them?
At any time, 40-60% of spiders will attempt to take off. This achieves optimum balance between rates of extinction and recolonization. After a new island emerges from the sea, spiders are often the first animals on it and birds in places like Svalbard partially rely on flying spiders arriving as a source of food. Prior to take-off, 1.5m of silky sail is spun out. The spider cannot control how high they go or where they end up. Spiders can't propel their silk out, it has to be reeled out instead. Most species of spider eventually get too big to be able to fly. Money spiders can fly throughout their lives though. Spiders can fly up to 70km in just 10 hours.
Why is dispersal so important? Professor Godfrey Hewitt said "Global climate has fluctuated greatly during the past three million years, leading to the recent major ices ages. An inescapable consequence for most living organisms is great changes in their distribution. Such range changes can be expected to have genetic consequences."
What drives the different dispersal strategies? What is the relationship between dispersal, gene flow and local adaptation?
Risk avoidance on the part of the spider is not the only factor determining when it flies. It has been discovered that spiders carry particular bacterial infections that are known to influence the biology of other hosts. For example, in butterflies, this Wolbachia bacteria results in a female biased sex ratio, meaning that the females have to compete for males. In woodlice, genetic males develop as females but other males prefer real females over feminised males. In other creatures, infected females aggregate offspring, thereby promoting sibling mating and inbreeding. The bacteria affects higher brain function.
How can we determine the effects of bacterial infection in spiders? We can cure the spiders with antibiotics and then see what happens to the behaviour of the "cured" spiders. Of course this isn't as straightforward as it sounds - what is the right dose of antibiotic for something as small as a spider? It turns out that spiders are more likely to fly if they have been cured. So, the bacteria see to influence whether or not a spider will fly. Around 2/3 of invertebrate creepy crawlies have this bacteria.
Spiders that can fly are also good sailors. This is how they can travel much further than we initially thought. Some spiders can even stand on water. These are a subset of the sailors, who are a subset of the flyers. The spiders that can fly but can't sail might be in trouble if they land on water. There are even some spiders that can survive submerged for up to a week. However, many spiders can drown in a raindrop.
We then move onto a slightly more general chat about spiders. There are very few spiders that are actually dangerous to humans. There is Brazilian wandering spider that uses neurotoxin but most spiders don't have that kind of venom. Very few cases globally of a long term harm from a Sydney funnel web. There have only been two reports of "Fake Widow" attacks, despite all the coverage that they have received in the press. One was a sore arm for an afternoon in Worthing in 1991. One was a sore leg in south France in 2003. However, you are still better not touching spiders abroad but there are no harmful spiders in the UK.
Many people think that conkers can be used to keep spiders away but they do nothing. If anything a spider just sees a conker as something else to hide under. Most spiders can mate twice in quick succession. Sometimes a male spider is half-eaten, mates again and then she eats the rest of him. The hairs on a spider's foot that let it climb glass are thinner than a human chromosome.
In conclusion, natural selection shapes traits such as ability to survive encounters with water and aerial dispersal tendency. A small proportion of individuals is capable of moving over distances far greater than previously imagined because aerial dispersers are able to survive encounters with water.
Café Sci returns to The Vat & Fiddle after its summer hiatus on the 9th of October where Mike Merrifield will talk about Exoplanets. For more information, check out the Café Sci MeetUp site: https://www.meetup.com/nottingham-culture-cafe-sci/
Image Sources
Crab Spider, Social Spider, Spider silk comparison, Silk strand
@Gav Squires was there and has kindly written this guest post summarising the event, with some linkage added by NSB.
Spiders eat pests. If we could work out how to control their populations then we could end up with a more environmentally friendly world.
The spider family is 400million years old. Spiders have adapted to their world in many ways. Why, and how do these difference help the spider to adapt? In a single species of spider, why does more than type persist? The adaptations that they have are all relative to each other. Even in a single species, different morphs can exist in different parts of the world. To our eyes these morphs look different but they can appear as different again under UV light. In fact, Crab spiders pretend to be nectar to catch bees. This effect can only be seen in UV but it works because bees see in UV.
 |
| Crab Spider about to spoil a bees day |
In some cases, spiders are finding the same solutions to survival - some can have the same shape for a completely different genus. Co-operation can also solve some problems. Some spiders live in groups and they live in perfect harmony with each other. We've seen this in 9 species of spider, which is impressive but there are 40,000 types of spiders in the world. Those that do live in close family groups end up inbreeding. However, after 9-10million years of this, there appear to be no adverse effects. There is also a huge female bias when it comes to spiders in group living conditions.
 |
| Social Spiders |
Being able to move long distances also helps. Lingphiids are common in disturbed, agricultural environments. Many are capable of dispersing long distances by spinning out a line of silk and using it to take off. This is how they can end up on a farmer's field even after they have sprayed pesticide. You can find around 100 spiders in the space the size of an average table and they eat 25 times their body weight in pests every week. Spiders are 1000 times more impacted by insecticide than whatever you're trying to kill. How many of these flying spiders carry resistance to pesticides with them?
At any time, 40-60% of spiders will attempt to take off. This achieves optimum balance between rates of extinction and recolonization. After a new island emerges from the sea, spiders are often the first animals on it and birds in places like Svalbard partially rely on flying spiders arriving as a source of food. Prior to take-off, 1.5m of silky sail is spun out. The spider cannot control how high they go or where they end up. Spiders can't propel their silk out, it has to be reeled out instead. Most species of spider eventually get too big to be able to fly. Money spiders can fly throughout their lives though. Spiders can fly up to 70km in just 10 hours.
Why is dispersal so important? Professor Godfrey Hewitt said "Global climate has fluctuated greatly during the past three million years, leading to the recent major ices ages. An inescapable consequence for most living organisms is great changes in their distribution. Such range changes can be expected to have genetic consequences."
 |
| Single filament of synthetic spider silk |
Risk avoidance on the part of the spider is not the only factor determining when it flies. It has been discovered that spiders carry particular bacterial infections that are known to influence the biology of other hosts. For example, in butterflies, this Wolbachia bacteria results in a female biased sex ratio, meaning that the females have to compete for males. In woodlice, genetic males develop as females but other males prefer real females over feminised males. In other creatures, infected females aggregate offspring, thereby promoting sibling mating and inbreeding. The bacteria affects higher brain function.
 |
| Example of Spider Adaptations |
How can we determine the effects of bacterial infection in spiders? We can cure the spiders with antibiotics and then see what happens to the behaviour of the "cured" spiders. Of course this isn't as straightforward as it sounds - what is the right dose of antibiotic for something as small as a spider? It turns out that spiders are more likely to fly if they have been cured. So, the bacteria see to influence whether or not a spider will fly. Around 2/3 of invertebrate creepy crawlies have this bacteria.
Spiders that can fly are also good sailors. This is how they can travel much further than we initially thought. Some spiders can even stand on water. These are a subset of the sailors, who are a subset of the flyers. The spiders that can fly but can't sail might be in trouble if they land on water. There are even some spiders that can survive submerged for up to a week. However, many spiders can drown in a raindrop.
 |
| Spider Distribution Map at BAS |
We then move onto a slightly more general chat about spiders. There are very few spiders that are actually dangerous to humans. There is Brazilian wandering spider that uses neurotoxin but most spiders don't have that kind of venom. Very few cases globally of a long term harm from a Sydney funnel web. There have only been two reports of "Fake Widow" attacks, despite all the coverage that they have received in the press. One was a sore arm for an afternoon in Worthing in 1991. One was a sore leg in south France in 2003. However, you are still better not touching spiders abroad but there are no harmful spiders in the UK.
Many people think that conkers can be used to keep spiders away but they do nothing. If anything a spider just sees a conker as something else to hide under. Most spiders can mate twice in quick succession. Sometimes a male spider is half-eaten, mates again and then she eats the rest of him. The hairs on a spider's foot that let it climb glass are thinner than a human chromosome.
In conclusion, natural selection shapes traits such as ability to survive encounters with water and aerial dispersal tendency. A small proportion of individuals is capable of moving over distances far greater than previously imagined because aerial dispersers are able to survive encounters with water.
 |
| Dr Sara Goodacre |
Café Sci returns to The Vat & Fiddle after its summer hiatus on the 9th of October where Mike Merrifield will talk about Exoplanets. For more information, check out the Café Sci MeetUp site: https://www.meetup.com/nottingham-culture-cafe-sci/
Image Sources
Crab Spider, Social Spider, Spider silk comparison, Silk strand
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