Signposts to the Prey: Airflow Stimuli

Abstract

At the end of Chapter XVIII we discussed the complex interaction between the detection of substrate vibrations on one hand and of air movement on the other. Now I should like to consider more closely the movement of air as a stimulus in its own right, and its significance for prey capture. Remember that Cupiennius can be induced to perform capture behavior by air currents alone (for instance, those produced by a fly’s wingbeats). There is thus biological justification for focusing in this chapter solely on the trichobothria, the sensilla that detect airflow.