The project was about web-building behaviour and web-geometry of orb-weaving spiders. The research focused on the garden cross spider, but also included catching and maintaining populations of other orb-weaving spiders in the laboratory. The project was split into two parts. The first part investigated the effects of neurotoxins such as amphetamine, caffeine and scopolamine and temperature on the geometry of the web as well as web-building behaviour of the spider. The second part involved examining the effects of temperature on prey escape time and spider capture time in orb webs. The research methods included automated computer tracking of spiders from video recordings, drug administering and image analysis.

Links:
Department of Biological Sciences. University of Aarhus

Publications:

Hesselberg, T. and Vollrath, F. (2006). Temperature affects both web spider response time and prey escape speed. Bulletin of the British arachnological Society, 13: 275-280.

Hesselberg, T. and Vollrath, F. (2004). The effects of neurotoxins on web-geometry and web-building behaviour in Araneus diadematus Cl. Physiology & Behavior, 82: 519-529.
DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2004.04.058

Further materials:

Hesselberg, T. 2002. Web-building behaviour in Araneus diadematus Cl.: Effects of temperature and neurotoxins on the behaviour and web-geometry. MSc Thesis. Aarhus University. View PDF