Presentation Title
Comparison of Spider Silk Toughness in the Caerostris Genus
Abstract
Did the extreme toughness in Caerostris darwini’s silk evolve to allow the spider to build vast webs across rivers? Or is the toughness characteristic present in spider silk across the whole Caerostris genus? C. darwini live in Madagascar and their tough silk allows for massive webs. Closely related Caerostris species are found in South Africa and do not share the same web building behavior or habitats. This research focused on comparing Caerostris species from Madagascar, to species in South Africa. It was predicted that the remarkably tough silk found in C. darwini is an evolutionary trait found across the genus. This trait allowed for C. darwini to build their expansive webs. There is variation across the genus, but relative to average spider silk toughness, the radial and pulled silk of all the Caerostris species tested, showed extremely high values of toughness.
Primary Faculty Mentor Name
Ingi Agnarsson
Status
Undergraduate
Student College
Rubenstein School of Environmental and Natural Resources
Program/Major
Natural Resources
Primary Research Category
Biological Sciences
Comparison of Spider Silk Toughness in the Caerostris Genus
Did the extreme toughness in Caerostris darwini’s silk evolve to allow the spider to build vast webs across rivers? Or is the toughness characteristic present in spider silk across the whole Caerostris genus? C. darwini live in Madagascar and their tough silk allows for massive webs. Closely related Caerostris species are found in South Africa and do not share the same web building behavior or habitats. This research focused on comparing Caerostris species from Madagascar, to species in South Africa. It was predicted that the remarkably tough silk found in C. darwini is an evolutionary trait found across the genus. This trait allowed for C. darwini to build their expansive webs. There is variation across the genus, but relative to average spider silk toughness, the radial and pulled silk of all the Caerostris species tested, showed extremely high values of toughness.