Functional associations between the cribellum spinning plate and capture threads of Miagrammopes animotus (Araneida,Uloboridae)

Summary Uloborid cribellar silk consists of torus-shaped puffs. In Miagrammopes animotus the width of these puffs is about 36% that of the cribellum of the spider and shows a 2.3-fold increase in surface area during development. The cribellar spigot number increase 5.7-fold during development, although, relative to spider mass, it decreases by 34%. Cribellum width is the best predictor of both cribellar silk puff width and length and is as good a predictor of puff surface area as is cribellum surface area. Relative to cribellum width, the length of the calamistrum comb responsible for drawing fibrils from the cribellum changes little during development. The attachment points of cribellar silk to a parallel frame thread become more widely spaced during development, although the number of puffs they delimit changes little.