11/21/07

Representative publications - ** undergrad and grad * coauthors

25. Swanson, B.O., T.A. Blackledge and C.Y. Hayashi. 2007. Spider capture silk: performance implications of variation in an exceptional biomaterial. Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological Genetics and Physiology. 307A: 654-666. PDF

24. Blackledge, T.A. and C.M. Eliason*. 2007. Functionally independent components of prey capture are architecturally constrained in spider orb webs. Biology Letters. 3: 456-458. PDF

23. Blackledge, T.A. and J.M. Zevenbergen**. 2007. Condition-dependent web architecture in the western black widow spider, Latrodectus hesperus. Animal Behaviour. 73: 855-864. PDF

22. Tso, I.M., S.Y. Jiang* & T.A. Blackledge. 2007. Does the giant wood spider Nephila pilipes respond to prey variation by altering web or silk properties? Ethology. 113: 324-333. PDF

21. Swanson, B.O., T.A. Blackledge, A.P. Summers & C.Y. Hayashi. 2006. Spider dragline silk: Correlated and mosaic evolution in high performance biological materials. Evolution. 60: 2539-2551. PDF

20. Blackledge, T.A. and  J.M. Zevenbergen*. 2006. Mesh width influences prey retention in spider orb webs. Ethology. 112: 1194-1201. PDF

19. Blackledge, T.A. & C.Y. Hayashi. 2006a. Unraveling the mechanical properties of composite silk threads spun by cribellate orb-weaving spiders. Journal of Experimental Biology. 209(16): 3131-3140. PDF (see Inside JEB highlight)

18. Blackledge, T.A. & C.Y. Hayashi. 2006b. Silken toolkits: biomechanics of silk fibers spun by the orb web spider Argiope argentata. Journal of Experimental Biology. 209(13): 2452-2461. PDF (cover article) see write ups in Natural History Magazine and Science News

17. Swanson, B.O., T.A. Blackledge, J. Beltrán** & C.Y. Hayashi. 2006. Variation in the material properties of spider dragline silk across species. Applied Physics A: Materials Science & Processing. 82: 213-218. PDF

16. Blackledge, T.A., J.E. Swindeman & C.Y. Hayashi. 2005a. Quasistatic and continuous dynamic analysis of the mechanical properties of silk from the cobweb of the western black widow Latrodectus hesperus. Journal of Experimental Biology. 208: 1937-1949. PDF

15. Blackledge, T.A., A.P. Summers & C.Y. Hayashi. 2005b. Gumfooted lines in black widow cobwebs and the mechanical properties of spider capture silk. Zoology. 108: 41-46. PDF see write up at Discovery News

14. Blackledge, T.A., R.A. Cardullo & C.Y. Hayashi. 2005c. Polarized light microscopy, variability in spider silk diameters, and the mechanical characterization of spider silk. Invertebrate Biology. 124: 165-173. PDF

13. Blackledge, T.A. & R.G. Gillespie. 2004. Convergent evolution of web building behaviors in an adaptive radiation of Hawaiian spiders.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 101:16228-16233. PDF

12. Hayashi, C.Y., T.A. Blackledge & R.V. Lewis. 2004. Molecular and mechanical characterization of spider aciniform silk: Uniformity of Iterated Sequence Modules in a Novel Member of the Spider Silk Fibroin Gene Family. Molecular Biology and Evolution. 21:1950-1959. PDF

11. Blackledge, T.A., G. J. Binford, and R. G. Gillespie. 2003. Community structure in an adaptive radiation of Hawaiian spiders. Annales Zoologici Fennici. 40:293-303. PDF

10. Blackledge, T.A., J. A. Coddington, and R. G. Gillespie. 2003. The evolution of three-dimensional spider webs as predator defenses. Ecology Letters.6:13-18. (cover article) PDF see write up at National Geographic News

9. Blackledge, T.A. & R.G. Gillespie. 2002. Estimation of capture areas of spider webs in relation to web asymmetry. Journal of Arachnology. 30:70-77. PDF

8. Blackledge, T.A. & J.W. Wenzel. 2001. Prey capture as a determinate of tangle web architecture in Dictyna volucripes. Ethology Ecology & Evolution. 13:105-113. PDF

7. Blackledge, T.A. & J.W. Wenzel. 2001. Silk mediated defense by an orb web spider against predatory mud‑dauber wasps. Behaviour. 138:155-171. PDF

6. Blackledge, T.A. & K.M. Pickett. 2000. Predatory interactions between mud-dauber wasps (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae) and Argiope (Araneae, Araneidae) in captivity. Journal of Aranchnology 28:211-216. PDF

5. Blackledge, T.A. & J.W. Wenzel. 2000. The evolution of cryptic spider silk: a behavioral test. Behavioral Ecology 11:142-145. PDF

4. Blackledge, T.A. & J.W. Wenzel. 1999. Do stabilimenta in orb webs attract prey or defend spiders. Behavioral Ecology 10:372-376. (cover article) PDF

3. Blackledge, T.A. 1998. Signal conflict in spider webs driven by predators and prey. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Biological Sciences 265:1991-1996. PDF

2. Blackledge, T.A. 1998. Stabilimentum variation and foraging success in Argiope aurantia and Argiope trifasciata (Araneae, Araneidae). Journal of Zoology 246:21-27. PDF

1. Vari, R.P. & T.A. Blackledge. 1996. New curimatid, Cyphocharax laticlavius (Ostariophysi, Characiformes), from Amazonian Ecuador, with a major range extension for C. gouldingi.  Copeia 1996(1):109-113