Spiderwebs and Silk

[Craig] gives a fascinating and vivid account of evolution of spider silks ... The book is a well-written, informative spider silk monograph ... will stimulate further research efforts in artificial silk synthesis ... will serve as an important source of information on all aspects of spider silk proteins.

• Preface ; 1 Breaking down silk proteins and their evolutionary pathways ; 2 The comparative architecture of silks, fibrous proteins and their encoding genes in insects and spiders ; 3. The mechanical functions of silk and their correlated structural properties ; 4. Insect spatial vision is potential selective factor on the evolution of silk achromatic properties and web architecture ; 5. Insect color vision is a potential selective factor on the evolution of silk chromatic properties and web design ; 6. Insect learning capacity is a potential selective factor in the evolution of silk color and the decorative silk patterns spun by spiders ; 7. Inter-gland competition for amino acids and the ATP costs of silk synthesis ; 8. One-dimensional developmental system and life-long silk synthesis may preclude the evolution of high eusociality in spiders ; 9. Conclusions and looking forward ; Bibliography ; Index