Comments on: Spiders coat their silk with an ant-repellent http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/11/23/spiders-coat-their-silk-with-an-ant-repellent/ Mon, 26 Nov 2012 12:00:51 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: vince http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/11/23/spiders-coat-their-silk-with-an-ant-repellent/#comment-13635 vince Wed, 30 Nov 2011 10:31:00 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/?p=5833#comment-13635 Bottle it and sell it. Totally organic! Lots of people would buy this. Bottle it and sell it. Totally organic! Lots of people would buy this.

]]> By: Leslie Brunetta http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/11/23/spiders-coat-their-silk-with-an-ant-repellent/#comment-13634 Leslie Brunetta Thu, 24 Nov 2011 13:30:56 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/?p=5833#comment-13634 A self-serving comment here, but if you're interested in spiders and spider silk, please take at look at Spider Silk: Evolution and 400 Million Years of Spinning, Waiting, Snagging, and Mating (Yale University Press), which I co-authored with Catherine L. Craig. We provide loads of interesting information about spiders and their silks while explaining natural selection by charting their evolution. It was longlisted (13 books) for the Royal Society Winton Prize this year. You can check out other reviews at www.lesliebrunetta.com. A big fan of Ed Yong, Leslie Brunetta A self-serving comment here, but if you’re interested in spiders and spider silk, please take at look at Spider Silk: Evolution and 400 Million Years of Spinning, Waiting, Snagging, and Mating (Yale University Press), which I co-authored with Catherine L. Craig. We provide loads of interesting information about spiders and their silks while explaining natural selection by charting their evolution. It was longlisted (13 books) for the Royal Society Winton Prize this year. You can check out other reviews at http://www.lesliebrunetta.com.

A big fan of Ed Yong,
Leslie Brunetta

]]> By: Rim http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/11/23/spiders-coat-their-silk-with-an-ant-repellent/#comment-13633 Rim Thu, 24 Nov 2011 10:32:39 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/?p=5833#comment-13633 @Carolyn, I think that'd also be a valid hypothesis. For selective application to hold, you'd expect to find some webs without the chemical, paticularly in environments without the threat of ant incursion. There's also the question if younger specimen either physically cannot make the chemical or simply don't apply it. Plenty of opportunity for interesting future research there :) @Carolyn, I think that’d also be a valid hypothesis. For selective application to hold, you’d expect to find some webs without the chemical, paticularly in environments without the threat of ant incursion. There’s also the question if younger specimen either physically cannot make the chemical or simply don’t apply it. Plenty of opportunity for interesting future research there :)

]]> By: Carolyn Harwood http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/11/23/spiders-coat-their-silk-with-an-ant-repellent/#comment-13632 Carolyn Harwood Wed, 23 Nov 2011 22:16:52 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/?p=5833#comment-13632 Carolyn says: Should the second line of the next to the last paragraph read "... natural part of the spider's repertoire..."? Also, in the last paragraph, the authors state "This suggests that the chemical isn't a natural part of the silk-making process; instead, spiders actively choose to deploy it based on the risk of an ant incursion." Couldn't it also suggest that the spiders acquire this chemical as they mature since it's only needed by adults and large juveniles? Carolyn says: Should the second line of the next to the last paragraph read “… natural part of the spider’s repertoire…”?

Also, in the last paragraph, the authors state “This suggests that the chemical isn’t a natural part of the silk-making process; instead, spiders actively choose to deploy it based on the risk of an ant incursion.” Couldn’t it also suggest that the spiders acquire this chemical as they mature since it’s only needed by adults and large juveniles?

]]> By: Minnesotastan http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/11/23/spiders-coat-their-silk-with-an-ant-repellent/#comment-13631 Minnesotastan Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:05:08 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/?p=5833#comment-13631 Myrmecos has an adapted image that deletes the incorrect labels - http://myrmecos.net/2011/11/23/orb-weaving-spiders-have-an-ant-problem/ Myrmecos has an adapted image that deletes the incorrect labels -

http://myrmecos.net/2011/11/23/orb-weaving-spiders-have-an-ant-problem/

]]> By: Kerry http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/11/23/spiders-coat-their-silk-with-an-ant-repellent/#comment-13630 Kerry Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:10:05 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/?p=5833#comment-13630 Great article re: ant repellent! But the picture seems to be reversed? Top should be without and bottom with? I may just be confused....again... Great article re: ant repellent! But the picture seems to be reversed? Top should be without and bottom with? I may just be confused….again…

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