Harvesting Lyoni Baby's Dragline Silk~~
Yesterday, the wild-type Lyoni spiderlings had hatched and it was so exciting. Why? Because I am going to harvest the dragline silk for Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis. To be honest, the thread is so so so so so subtle and you can hardly see it under the torch light but still you can get to see as it refracts the light back. However, to harvest the thread is tricky as it is so subtle. Hense, what I did wad, after they hatched, I transferred them into new enclosure when I placed black cardboard at the bottom. At first, they laid dormant on the surface while some went to seek refuge in the cavity under the cardboard. After overnight, I found that they had built a mesh of gossamer (made of dragline silks from all individuals) as a result of innate negative geotropism. If one spiderling drags its line on the surface, the other will perceive it as a clue and will follow while dumping more dragline trail. If more and more spiderlings do the same to go upwards, this will create a mesh of gossamer. So, this is an advantage for me to harvest the draglines by allowing them to attach onto the black cardboard. After PKP 3.0, I will send it out for the analysis. Crossing fingers for this!..
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