Prey capture

Spider Silk. Spider silks function ki prey capture, reproduction, and as vibration receptors, safety lines, and dispersion tools. Spider silks are synthesized ki glands located ki the abdomen and spun through a series of orifices (spinnerets). The types and nature of the various silks are diverse and depend on the type of spider (2). Some general categories of silks and the glands responsible for thek production are Hsted in Table 1. 

Many of these tests gave evidence for changes in behavior following exposure to neurotoxic pesticides. The author concludes that significant behavioral effects were often recorded down to one order of magnitude below the LCjo in question. Some tests, such as operant tests, were relatively simple and gave reproducible results, but it was difficult to evaluate the relevance of these to survival in the wild. Other tests, such as breeding behavior and prey capture, were more complex and less reproducible, but more relevant to the natural world. 

Over the last 400 million years, spiders have become highly diverse in the production and use of silks [1], reviewed in Ref. [2], This diversity is made necessary by the central role silk plays in a spider s life, e.g. prey capture, construction of shelter and reproduction. 

Weis, J.S. and P. Weis. 1995. Effects of embryonic exposure to methylmercury on larval prey-capture ability in the mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 14 153-156. 

M. salmoides 67 Exposure for 8 weeks produced hyperactivity and reductions in feeding rate and in prey capture 40... 

The toxins identified from cone snails, nemerteans, cephalopod molluscs, etc. undoubtedly play some role in prey capture, but their importance relative to other predatory behaviors is generally unknown. For some predators, toxins may serve as a secondary rather than primary mode of... 

It is currently unclear whether toxin-mediated prey capture by mobile invertebrates has a significant impact on prey population size or community composition. In freshwater systems, chemically mediated prey capture by flatworms has been demonstrated to significantly impact prey populations in the laboratory. Neurotoxic chemicals released from the mucus webs of the flatworm Mesostoma can drive entire populations of the cladoceran Daphnia magna to extinction in culture, but the concentration these chemicals normally attain under realistic field conditions is unknown. Nevertheless, because the mucus webs these flatworms build function to trap prey, Dumont and Carels163 likened these flatworms to spiders with toxic webs. Similar impacts may occur in open water marine systems where organisms that employ toxin-mediated prey capture are abundant, or even dominant, predators (e.g., chaetognaths and cnidarians). 

A polyclad flatworm (planocerid sp. 1) collected in Guam was found to contain the neurotoxin tetrodotoxin (TTX 225 and ll-nortetrodotoxin-6(5)-ol 226 which it uses to kill mobile prey such as gastropod mollusks. Consistent with a role in prey capture, levels of TTX in the flatworm decreased after they were fed on cowries. Although an antipredation role has been implied for TTX in some terrestrial species, its presence does not prevent flatworms from being consumed by reef fish.259... 

Greenwald, O. (1974). Thermal dependence of striking and prey capture by gopher snakes. Copeia, 1974, 141-8. 

Sebens, K.P., Grace, S.P., Helmuth, B., Maney Jr., E.J. and Miles, J.S. (1997) Water flow and prey capture by three scleractinian corals, Madracis mirabilis, Montastrea cavernosa, and Porites porites in a field enclosure. Marine Biology, 131, 347-360. 

Six a-conotoxins have been isolated from C. geographus, two of which target the neuronal nAChRs, suggesting that both muscle and neuronal subtypes are important in prey capture. Often multiple a3/5-conotoxins are found within the venom of one mollusk, although the reason for having multiple toxins targeting one receptor is not clear. 

Orb web frame, radii Prey capture, sticky spiral Prey capture, attachment glue Orb web frame Reproduction Wrapping captured prey... 

Kardong, K. V., 1982, Comparative study of changes in prey capture behavior in the cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus) and Egyptian cobra (Naja haje), Copeia 1982 337-343. 

ROCHA R J, RIBEIRO L, COSTA R and DiNis M T (2008) Does the presence of microalgae influence flsh larvae prey capture Aquaculture Research, 39, 362-369. 

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