Thermal and Water Relations

Abstract

The study of the thermal and water relations of spiders began with observations on the thermal relations of growth (Wagner 1888), with experiments on temperature sensing (Gaubert 1892; Mclndoo 1911) and with the description of interspecific differences in the drinking behaviour of spiders (Gerhardt 1923, 1928b). Millot and Fontaine (1937) measured the water content of ecologically different species, introducing both a comparative approach and experimental methods into the analysis of spider water relations. Autecological aspects were introduced by Weese (1924), who studied the response of various spiders to humidity gradients, and by Savory (1930), who related the habitat choice of two araneids, Zygiella x-notata and Z. atrica, to positive and negative hygrotaxis, respectively. Palmgren (1939) combined both field and laboratory studies and demonstrated that access to water is crucial in the habitat selection of a pisaurid,Dolomedes fimbriatus.