Papers in the Biological Sciences
Date of this Version
2011
Abstract
Solifugids (Arachnida, Solifugae) have unique evertable adhesive organs on the tips of their pedipalps, named ‘suctorial’ or ‘palpal’ organs. Previous studies have shown that these organs enable solifugids to climb smooth glass-like surfaces and have hypothesized that these structures facilitate prey capture. Here, we use high-speed videography to demonstrate that the suctorial organs of Eremochelis bilobatus are its primary means of capturing insect prey. We also present calculations of the adhesive pressure exerted by these suctorial organs during real prey capture events.
Comments
Published in Journal of Ethology 29 (2011), pp. 177–180; doi: 10.1007/s10164-010-0222-4 Copyright © 2010 Japan Ethological Society and Springer. Used by permission.