Master-Project: Morphology of the spinning apparatus of the wasp spider Argiope bruennichi

The spinning apparatusof spiders consists oftheouter spinnerets andtheinner silk glands, which they need forthe production of silk. Spiders can use their silk for different purposes, e.g. to build webs and cocoons, to catch and wrap prey or to disperse via “ballooning”.

I am working on the spinneret morphology of different instars of the wasp spider Argiope bruennichi. Wasp spiders show a palearctic distribution and keep expanding their range northwards. Since it has been shown that populations from Estonia, Southern France and the Azores differ in ballooning propensity, I want to investigate whether the different behavior is accompanied by morphological changes ofthe spinning apparatus. Therefore, I examine the spinning apparatus of adult as well as juvenile stages from different regions with the help of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and histological methods (semi-thin and paraffin sections).