| Title |
Consequences of electrical conductivity in an orb spider's capture web
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
The Science of Nature, December 2013
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s00114-013-1120-8 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Fritz Vollrath, Donald Edmonds |
| Abstract |
The glue-coated and wet capture spiral of the orb web of the garden cross spider Araneus diadematus is suspended between the dry silk radial and web frame threads. Here, we experimentally demonstrate that the capture spiral is electrically conductive because of necks of liquid connecting the droplets even if the thread is stretched. We examine how this conductivity of the capture spiral may lead to entrapment of charged airborne particles such as pollen, spray droplets and even insects. We further describe and model how the conducting spiral will also locally distort the Earth's ambient electric field. Finally, we examine the hypothesis that such distortion could be used by potential prey to detect the presence of a web but conclude that any effect would probably be too small to allow an insect to take evasive action. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 279 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Japan | 62 | 22% |
| China | 3 | 1% |
| Austria | 3 | 1% |
| Solomon Islands | 2 | <1% |
| Papua New Guinea | 1 | <1% |
| Comoros | 1 | <1% |
| Korea, Democratic People's Republic of | 1 | <1% |
| Vietnam | 1 | <1% |
| Morocco | 1 | <1% |
| Other | 0 | 0% |
| Unknown | 204 | 73% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 278 | 100% |
| Scientists | 1 | <1% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 47 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 2 | 4% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | 2% |
| Japan | 1 | 2% |
| Unknown | 43 | 91% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 13 | 28% |
| Researcher | 9 | 19% |
| Student > Bachelor | 6 | 13% |
| Student > Master | 6 | 13% |
| Professor | 3 | 6% |
| Other | 4 | 9% |
| Unknown | 6 | 13% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 19 | 40% |
| Engineering | 5 | 11% |
| Environmental Science | 3 | 6% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 2 | 4% |
| Physics and Astronomy | 2 | 4% |
| Other | 5 | 11% |
| Unknown | 11 | 23% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 300. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 19 January 2024.
All research outputs
#117,274
of 25,724,500 outputs
Outputs from The Science of Nature
#13
of 2,276 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#971
of 322,100 outputs
Outputs of similar age from The Science of Nature
#1
of 30 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,724,500 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 2,276 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 14.3. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 322,100 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 30 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 96% of its contemporaries.