Pdfs of all papers are available upon request to me at thomashesselberg@gmail.com
Peer reviewed scientific papers
2024
Mammola, S., Graco-Roza, C., Ballarin, F., Hesselberg, T., Isaia, M., Lunghi, E., Mouron, S., Pavlek, M., Tolve, M. and Cardoso, P. (2024). Functional convergence underground? The scale-dependency of community assembly processes in European cave spiders. Global Ecology and Biogeography, early online. doi.org/10.1111/geb.13840
Soliman, M., Almadiy, A., Al-Akeel, R., Hesselberg, T. and Mohamed, A. (2024). Limited genetic variability and spatial population structure in grasshoppers between natural and metal-contaminated areas in Egypt. Journal of Insect Science 24, 12. doi.org/10.1093/jisesa/ieae026
Mohammad, S., Hesselberg, T. and Rafeeq, K.U.M.A. (2024). Occurrence of indoor insect pests and illnesses of inhabitants in Malappuram, Kerala, India. Oriental Insects 58, 22-36. doi: 10.1080/00305316.2023.2217179
2023
Lunghi, E., Mammola, S., Martínez, A. and Hesselberg, T. (2023). Behavioural adjustments enable the colonization of subterranean environments. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, zlad133. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad133
Hesselberg, T. (2023) The biomimetic potential of novel adaptations in subterranean animals. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 11, doi: 10.3389/fevo.2023.1127728. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1127728
Stanley, C., Bagniewska, J. M., Grabowska-Zhang, A. and Hesselberg, T. (2023). Wooded streets, but not streetlight dimming, favour bat activity in a temperate urban setting, Journal of Urban Ecology 9, juad011. doi.org/10.1093/jue/juad011
Hesselberg, T.; Boyd, K.M.; Styrsky, J.D. and Gálvez, D. (2023). Host Plant Specificity in Web-Building Spiders. Insects 14, 229. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects14030229
2022
Mammola,S., Malumbres-Olarte, J., Arabesky, V., Barrales-Alcalá, D. A., Barrion-Dupo, A. L., Benamú, M. A., Bird, T. L., Bogomolova, M., Cardoso, P., Chatzaki, M., Cheng, R.-C., Chu, T.-A., Classen-Rodríguez, L. M., Čupić, I., Dhiya’ulhaq, N. U., Picard, A.-P. D., El-Hennawy, H. K., Elverici, M., Fukushima, C. S., Ganem, Z., Gavish-Regev, E., Gonnye, N. T., Hacala, A., Haddad, C. R., Hesselberg, T., Ho, T. A. T., Into, T., Isaia, M., Jayaraman, D., Karuaera, N., Khalap, R., Khalap, K., Kim, D., Korhonen, T., Kralj-Fišer, S., Land, H., Lin, S.-W., Loboda, S., Lowe, E., Lubin, Y., Martínez, A., Mbo, Z., Miličić, M., Kioko, G. M., Nanni, V., Norma-Rashid, Y., Nwankwo, D., Painting, C. J., Pang, A., Pantini, P., Pavlek, M., Pearce, R., Petcharad, B., Pétillon, J., Raberahona, O. C., Russo, P., Saarinen, J. A., Segura-Hernández, L., Sentenská, L., Uhl, G., Walker, L., Warui, C. M., Wiśniewski, K., Zamani, A., Chuang, A. and Scott, C. The global spread of misinformation on spiders. Current Biology 32, R871-R873. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.07.026
Boyd, K., Hesselberg, T. and Alexander, M. (2022). Determination of the functional response in the orb-weaving spider Araneus diadematus (Araneae: Araneidae) according to insecticide type. Ecological Entomology 47, 791-800. https://doi.org/10.1111/een.13169
Davies, M. S. and Hesselberg, T. (2022). The use of tuning forks for studying behavioural responses in orb web spiders. Insects 2022, 13, 370. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects13040370
Mammola, S, Pavlek, M. Huber, B. Isaia, M., Ballarin, F., Tolve, M., Čupić, I., Hesselberg, T., Lunghi, E., Mouron, S., Graco-Roza, C. and Cardoso, P. A trait database and updated checklist for European subterranean spiders. Scientific Data 9, 236.
Mammola, S., Malumbres-Olarte, J…Hesselberg, T.…Chuang, A. (2022). An expert-curated global database of online newspaper articles on spiders and spider bites. Scientific Data 9, 109. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-022-01197-6
Soliman, M. M., Hesselberg, T., Mohamed, A. A. And Renault, D. (2022). Trophic transfer of heavy metals along a pollution gradient in a terrestrial agro-industrial food web. Geoderma 413, 115748. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2022.115748
Copeland, A. and Hesselberg, T. (2022). Habitat preferences of the critically endangered greater Bermuda land snail Poecilozonites bermudensis in the wild. Oryx 56, 34-37. doi:10.1017/S0030605320000836.
2021
Hesselberg, T. (2021). The habitat preferences of Meta bourneti (Simon, 1922) (Araneae: Tetragnathidae) in the UK differ from populations in southern Europe. Arachnology 18, 1006-1012. https://doi.org/10.13156/arac.2021.18.9.1006.
Mammola, S., Lunghi, E., Bilandzija, H., Cardoso, P. Grimm V., Schmidt, S. I., Hesselberg, T. and Martínez, A. (2021). Collecting eco-evolutionary data in the dark: Impediments to subterranean research and how to overcome them. Ecology and Evolution 11, 5911-5926. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7556
Chowdhury, S., Shahriar, S. A., Böhm, M., Jain, A., Aich, U., Zalucki, M. P., Hesselberg, T., Morelli, F., Benedetti, Y., Persson, A. S., Roy, D. K., Rahman, S., Ahmed, S., Fuller, R. A. (2021). Urban green spaces in Dhaka, Bangladesh, harbour nearly half the country’s butterfly diversity. Journal of Urban Ecology 7, Issue 1, juab008. https://doi.org/10.1093/jue/juab008
Richards, M. A. and Hesselberg, T. (2021). No edge effect on quantity of prey captured in the forest-dwelling tetragnathid orb spider Metellina mengei. Animal Biology 71, 169-181. https://doi.org/10.1163/15707563-bja10050
Gomes, D., Hesselberg, T. and Barber, J. (2021). Phantom river noise alters orb-weaving spider abundance, web size, and prey capture. Functional Ecology 35, 717-726. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13739
Mammola, S., Hesselberg, T. and Lunghi, E. (2021). A trade-off between latitude and elevation contributes to explain range segregation of broadly distributed cave-dwelling spiders. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 59, 370-375. doi.org/10.1111/jzs.12432
Simonsen, D. and Hesselberg, T. (2021). Unique behavioural modifications in the web structure of the cave orb spider Meta menardi (Araneae, Tetragnathidae). Scientific Reports 11, 92.
doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-79868-w
2020
Mazebedi, R. and Hesselberg, T. (2020). A preliminary survey of the abundance, diversity and distribution of terrestrial macroinvertebrates of Gcwihaba cave, northwest Botswana. Subterranean Biology 35, 49-63.
doi: 10.3897/subtbiol.35.51445
da Silva, G. D. P. and Hesselberg, T. (2020). A Review of the Use of Black Soldier Fly Larvae, Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae), to Compost Organic Waste in Tropical Regions. Neotropical Entomology 49, 151-162. doi.org/10.1007/s13744-019-00719-z
2019
Gardner, E., Hesselberg, T., Grabowska-Zhang, A. and Hughes, J. (2019). The effect of woodland area on avian community composition in a fragmented southern UK landscape and associated management recommendations. Bird Study 66, 293-305. doi.org/10.1080/00063657.2019.1656707
Hesselberg, T. and Simonsen, D. (2019). A comparison of morphology and web geometry between hypogean and epigean species of Metellina orb spiders (family Tetragnathidae). Subterranean Biology 32, 1-13. doi.org/10.3897/subtbiol.32.36222
Hesselberg, T., Simonsen, D. and Juan, C. (2019). Do cave orb spiders show unique behavioural adaptations to subterranean life? A review of the evidence. Behaviour 156, 969-996. doi.org/10.1163/1568539X-00003564
Njovu, H. K., Kisingo, A. W., Hesselberg, T. and Eustace, A. (2019). The spatial and temporal distribution of mammal roadkills in the Kwakuchinja Wildlife Corridor in Tanzania. African Journal of Ecology 57, 423-428. doi.org/10.1111/aje.12608.
2018
Butt, A., Quaret-ul-Ain, Rehman, K., Khan, M. X. and Hesselberg, T. (2018). Bioaccumulation of Cadmium, Lead and Zinc in agriculture based insect food chains. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 190, 698. doi.org/10.1007/s10661-018-7051-2.
Tew, N. and Hesselberg, T. (2018). Web asymmetry in the tetragnathid orb spider Metellina mengei (Blackwell 1869) is determined by web inclination and web size. Journal of Arachnology 46, 370-372. doi.org/10.1636/JOA-S-17-065.1
Hart, A., Hesselberg, T., Nesbit, R. and Goodenough, A. (2018). The spatial distribution and environmental triggers of ant mating flights: using citizen-science data to reveal national patterns. Ecography 41, 877-888. doi.org/10.1111/ecog.03140
2017
Tew, N. and Hesselberg, T. (2017). The effect of wind exposure on the web characteristics of a tetragnathid orb spider. Journal of Insect Behavior 33, 273-286. doi: 10.1007/s10905-017-9618-0
Chowdbury, S., Hesselberg, T., Böhm, M., Islam, M. and Aich, U. (2017). Butterfly diversity in a tropical urban habitat (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea). Oriental Insects 51, 417-430. doi.org/10.1080/00305316.2017.1314230
2015
Lenau, T. and Hesselberg, T. (2015). Dry sanitation concepts with inspiration from nature. Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development 5: 330–335.
doi:10.2166/washdev.2015.178
Hesselberg, T. (2015). Exploration behaviour and behavioural flexibility in orb-web spiders: A review. Current Zoology 61: 313-327. doi.org/10.1093/czoolo/61.2.313
Tew, E. R., Adamson, A. and Hesselberg, T. (2015). The web repair behaviour of an orb spider. Animal Behaviour 103: 137-146.
DOI:10.1016/j.anbehav.2015.02.016
2014
Hesselberg, T. (2014). The mechanism behind plasticity of web-building behavior in an orb spider facing spatial constraints. Journal of Arachnology 42: 311-314.
DOI: 10.1636/J14-05.1
2013
Chen, F., Hesselberg, T., Porter, D. and Vollrath, F. (2013). The impact behaviour of silk cocoons. Journal of Experimental Biology 216: 2648-2657.
DOI:10.1242/jeb.082545.
Hesselberg, T. (2013). Web-building flexibility differs in two spatially constrained orb spiders. Journal of Insect Behavior 26, 283-303.
DOI: 10.1007/s10905-012-9335-7
2012
Hesselberg, T. and Vollrath, F. (2012). The mechanical properties of the non-sticky spiral in Nephila orb webs (Araneae, Nephilidae). Journal of Experimental Biology215, 3362-3369.
DOI: 10.1242/jeb.068890.
Eberhard, W. G. and Hesselberg, T. (2012). Cues that spiders (Araneae: Araneidae, Tetragnathidae) use to build orbs: lapses in attention to one set of cues because of dissonance with others? Ethology 118, 610-620.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0310.2012.02048.x.
2011
Turner, J., Vollrath, F. and Hesselberg, T. (2011). Wind speed affects prey-catching behaviour in an orb web spider. Naturwissenschaften 98, 1063-1067.
DOI: 10.1007/s00114-011-0854-4.
2010
Hesselberg, T. (2010). Ontogenetic changes in web design in two orb-web spiders. Ethology 116, 535-545.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0310.2010.01760.x
Hesselberg, T. and Triana, E. (2010). The web of the acacia orb-spider Eustala illicita (Araneae: Araneidae) with notes on its natural history. Journal of Arachnology38, 21-26.
DOI: 10.1636/HI09-59.1
2009
Hesselberg, T. and Lehmann, F.-O. (2009). The role of experience in flight behaviour of Drosophila. Journal of Experimental Biology. 212, 3377-3386.
DOI: 10.1242/jeb.025221
Hesselberg, T. (2009). Sensors and control systems for micro-air vehicles: lessons from flies. Sensor Review, 29, 120-126.
DOI: 10.1108/02602280910936228
2007
Hesselberg, T. and Lehmann, F.-O. (2007). Turning behaviour depends on frictional damping in the fruit fly Drosophila. Journal of Experimental Biology 210, 3419-3434.
DOI: 10.1242/jeb.010389
Hesselberg, T. (2007). Biomimetics and the case of the remarkable ragworms. Naturwissenschaften 94, 613-621.
DOI: 10.1007/s00114-006-0212-0
2006
Hesselberg, T. and Vincent, J.F.V. (2006). The function of parapodial setae in a nereidid polychaete moving on two different substrata. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 335, 235-244
DOI: 10.1016/j.jembe.2006.03.008
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 Vincent, J.F.V. (2006). A comparative study of functional morphology of parapodia and setae in nereids (Polychaeta: Nereididae). Animal Biology56, 103-120.
DOI: 10.1163/157075606775904704
2005
La Spina, G., Hesselberg, T., Williams, J. and Vincent, J.F.V. (2005). A biomimetic approach to robot locomotion in unstructured and slippery environments. Journal of Bionics Engineering 2, 1-14. doi.org/10.1007/BF03399476
2004
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
Other academic publications
Hesselberg, T. and Gálvez, D. (2023). Editorial: Spider Ecology and Behaviour—Spiders as Model Organisms. Insects 14, 330. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects14040330
Jain, S. and Hesselberg, T. (2021). A bibliometric analysis of the use of biomimetic silk conduits for treating peripheral nerve injuries. Journal of Emerging Investigators 4, 1-8. https://www.emerginginvestigators.org/articles/a-bibliometric-analysis-of-the-use-of-biomimetic-silk-conduits-for-treating-peripheral-nerve-injuries
Cooke, J., Yoseph A., Bacon, K. L., Bagniewska, J. M., Batty, L., Bishop, T. R., Burns, M. Charalambous, M. Daversa, D. R., Dougherty, L. R., Dyson, M., Fisher, A. M., Forman, D., Garcia, C., Harney, E., Hesselberg, T., John, E. A., Knell, R., Maseyk, K., Mauchline, A. L., Peacock, J., Pernetta, A. P., Pritchard, J., Sutherland, W. J., Thomas, R. L., Tigar, B., Wheeler, P., White, R. L., Worsfold, N. T., Lewis, Z. (2021). Teaching and learning in ecology: a horizon scan of emerging challenges and solutions. Oikos 130, 15-28.
Lenau. T. A., Metze, A.-L. and Hesselberg, T. (2018). Paradigms for biologically inspired design. Proc. SPIE 10593, Bioinspiration, Biomimetics, and Bioreplication VIII, 1059302; doi: 10.1117/12.2296560.
Lenau, T., Hesselberg, T., Drakidis, A., Silva, P. and Gomes, S. (2017). Mosquito inspired medical needles (2017). Proc. SPIE Vol. 10162, Bioinspiration, Biomimetics, and Bioreplication 1016208 (April 2017). doi:10.1117/12.2261399.
Hesselberg, T. (2014). Animal Behaviour: An Introduction, Oxford University Department for Continuing Education in collaboration with TALL. Online course.
Lenau, T. A. and Hesselberg, T. (2014). Self-organisation and motion in plants. Proc. SPIE Vol. 9055, Bioinspiration, Biomimetics, and Bioreplication 90550F (March 8, 2014). Doi:10.1117/12.2045155. http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.org/proceeding.aspx?articleid=1845822
Lenau, T. and Hesselberg, T. (2013). Biomimetic self-organisation and self-healing. In Engineered Biomimicry (Eds Lakhtakia,, A. and Martin-Palma, R. J.) (pages 333-358). Elsevier, Amsterdam.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/book/9780124159952
Hesselberg, T. (2012). Data Analysis in Ecology, University of Oxford CPD Centre in collaboration with TALL. Online course.
Hesselberg,T. (2010). Notas sobre la capacidad de construir telas orbiculares en el laboratorio por arañas neotropicales. Puente Biológico 3: 101-109.
Hesselberg, T. (2006). Biomimetics: learning from nature. Proceedings of the Bath Royal Literary & Scientific Institution, 9: 150-153.
Selected conferences, seminars and academic visits
2020
– Attended the virtual annual British Ecological meeting and presented a poster entitled ”Apparent lack of edge effects in a wood-dwelling orb spider”.
– Attended the online American Arachnology Congress and presented a poster entitled “Orb Webs in the cave spider Meta menardi (Tetragnathidae): Adaptations to an extreme environment?”.
2018
– Gave a departmental seminar entitled ”Adaptations and behavioural flexibility in orb spiders’ at the Department of Biology, University of the Balearic Islands.
– Attended and presented a talk on ‘Behavioural adaptations in cave orb spiders’ at the the International Conference on Subterranean Biology in Aveiro
2014
– Gave an invited public lecture in Danish at the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters entitled ‘Hjulspindets hemmeligheder og edderkoppers spindeadfærd’.
2013
– Gave a departmental seminar at the Danish Centre for Applied Mathematics and Mechanics(DCAMM) at the Technical University of Denmark entitled ‘Numerical modelling of biological systems: the spider orb web’
– Attending and presenting a poster entitled ‘Behavioural flexibility and learning in orb spiders’ at the ASAB (Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour) Winter Conference in London.
2011
– Attending and giving a presentation entitled ‘Edderkoppe-silke: dets funktion, egenskaber og biomimetiske potentiale’. (Translated title: Spider silk: its function, properties and biomimetic potential) at an applied biomimetic workshop arranged by the Danish Technological Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark.
– Attending and giving a presentation entitled ‘Why is the non-sticky spiral retained in some orb webs?’ at the 104th Annual Meeting of the German Zoological Society, Saarbrücken, Germany.
– Attending and giving a presentation entitled ‘Physcial cognition and behavioural flexibility in orb spiders’ at the Physical Cognition & Problem-Solving workshop at the University of Birmingham, U.K.
2010
– Giving an animal behaviour seminar at the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford entitled ‘Why do nephilid spiders retain the non-sticky spiral in their webs?’
– Attending and giving a presentation entitled ‘The mechanical importance of retaining the non-sticky spiral in Nephila webs’ at the 18th International Congress of Arachnology in Siedlce, Poland
– Attending and presenting a poster entitled ‘Scaling effects and behavioural responses to wind-loading in orb webs: a comparative study’ at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Experimental Biology in Prague, Czech Republic
2009
– Giving an animal behaviour seminar at the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford entitled ‘Ontogenetic changes in web design’
– Giving a behavioural seminar at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama entitled ‘Behavioural plasticity in orb-spiders’.
2007
– One week visit to the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, UK. Working on a grant proposal.
– Attending and giving a presentation entitled ‘Visuo-motor learning during orientation flight of the fruit fly Drosophila’ at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Experimental Biology in Glasgow, U.K. (SEBatGlasgow 2007).
– Attending and giving a presentation entitled ‘Simulating naturally occurring changes in body kinematics in a virtual flight arena’ at the Priority Program SPP1207 workshop on Measurements and Simulations of Animal Locomotion in Darmstadt, Germany.
2005
– Attending and giving a presentation entitled ‘Biomimetic traction for endoscopy’ at the Commercial Biomimetics conference at the University of Bath.
– Attending and presenting a poster entitled ‘The functional morphology of locomotion in the ragworm Nereis diversicolor’ at the Society for Experimental Biology (SEB-Barcelona 2005) in Barcelona, Spain.
– Giving a public lecture entitled ‘Biomimetics – Learning from Nature’ at the Bath Royal Scientific & Literary Institution.
– Attending and presenting a poster and a short demonstration at the BIRO-NET (Biological inspired robotics network) EASTER Symposium 2005, University of Bath.
– Visiting the department of Marine Biology at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands for the month of March.
2004
– Attending the international two-week postgraduate course ‘Sensory Ecology’ at University of Lund in Sweden.
– Attending and giving a short presentation at the International Workshop on Biologically Inspired Robots, University of Bath.
– Attending and giving a presentation at the FET-IST 24 month review meeting for BIOLOCH in Bonn, Germany.
2003
– Attending the FET-IST 12 month review meeting for BIOLOCH in Alicante, Spain.
– Participating in a one-day workshop on SolidEdge training.
– Attending the 12-month meeting of the BIOLOCH-project at FORTH in Heraklion, Greece.
2002
-Attending the 6-month meeting of the BIOLOCH-project at the Scuola Superiore di Studi Universitari e di Perfezionamento Sant’Anna in Pisa, Italy.
2001
– Visiting the Department of Integrative Biology, University of Basel, Switzerland for 6 days in connection with my master research project.