{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,24]],"date-time":"2026-04-24T09:55:12Z","timestamp":1777024512597,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]],"date-time":"2026-03-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1773014400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/pages\/standard-publication-reuse-rights"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000001","name":"National Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["IOS-2015817"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IOS-2015817"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000001","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000001","name":"National Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["IOS-2015841"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IOS-2015841"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000001","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Spiders are among the most conspicuous trap builders in nature, and the structure and orientation of spider webs are presumably under strong selection pressure. Most ecribellate orb-weavers (Araneoidea) build vertically-orientated webs (0\u00b0; ie the plane of the web is orthogonal to the ground). However, Leucauge venusta (Tetragnathidae; Walckenaer, 1842) often build horizontally-orientated webs (90\u00b0; ie parallel to the ground), despite evidence that prey capture and retention rates are higher in vertical webs. Falling debris is a common hazard for webs in the forest understory, and basic geometry predicts that vertical webs sustain more damage when struck by a falling object. Here, we quantified the angle of web inclination in L. venusta and its effect on the amount of damage sustained from falling debris. We experimentally damaged L. venusta webs in the laboratory and measured natural damage to webs in the field. As predicted, webs inclined 30\u00b0 or 45\u00b0 relative to vertical in the laboratory sustained more damage than horizontal (90\u00b0) webs; by contrast, the proportional damage observed in the field was not related to web inclination (which ranged 21\u00b0 to 90\u00b0). Thus, under controlled laboratory conditions, the horizontal orientation of L. venusta webs minimizes damage from debris fall. However, falling objects are just one of many potential sources of web damage in nature, and the relevance of web size and location to the frequency and magnitude of damage remains unclear. The results improve our understanding of the role of web orientation in the balance between prey capture and local environmental challenges.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/ee\/nvag031","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,29]],"date-time":"2026-03-29T14:01:56Z","timestamp":1774792916000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Effect of web inclination on debris-induced damage in\n                    <i>Leucauge venusta<\/i>\n                    webs (Araneae: Tetragnathidae)"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"55","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-8126-5608","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sarah A","family":"Fortner","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, University of Louisville , Louisville, KY,","place":["USA"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8531-5479","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Abigail K","family":"Nienaber","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, University of Louisville , Louisville, KY,","place":["USA"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4217-2850","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alyssa Y","family":"Stark","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, Villanova University , Villanova, PA,","place":["USA"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6425-1413","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stephen P","family":"Yanoviak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, University of Louisville , Louisville, KY,","place":["USA"]},{"name":"Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute , Balboa,","place":["Republic of Panama"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026042405070097800_nvag031-B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"365","DOI":"10.1177\/1056789505054313","article-title":"Damage tolerance in naturally compliant structures","volume":"14","author":"Alam","year":"2005","journal-title":"Int. Journal of Damage Mech."},{"key":"2026042405070097800_nvag031-B2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"336","DOI":"10.2307\/1936708","article-title":"Web orientation in the spider Micrathena gracilis (Araneae: Araneidae)","volume":"62","author":"Biere","year":"1981","journal-title":"Ecology"},{"key":"2026042405070097800_nvag031-B3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1636\/M11-67.1","article-title":"Spider silk: a brief review and prospectus on research linking biomechanics and ecology in draglines and orb webs","volume":"40","author":"Blackledge","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Arachnol."},{"key":"2026042405070097800_nvag031-B4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"70","DOI":"10.1636\/0161-8202(2002)030[0070:EOCAOS]2.0.CO;2","article-title":"Estimation of capture areas of spider orb webs in relation to asymmetry","volume":"30","author":"Blackledge","year":"2002","journal-title":"J. Arachnol"},{"key":"2026042405070097800_nvag031-B5","first-page":"175","volume-title":"Advances in insect physiology","author":"Blackledge","year":"2011"},{"key":"2026042405070097800_nvag031-B6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"403","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1558-5646.1998.tb01641.x","article-title":"Testing adaptive radiation and key innovation hypotheses in spiders","volume":"52","author":"Bond","year":"1998","journal-title":"Evolution"},{"key":"2026042405070097800_nvag031-B7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"378","DOI":"10.32614\/RJ-2017-066","article-title":"glmmTMB balances speed and flexibility among packages for zero-inflated generalized linear mixed modeling","volume":"9","author":"Brooks","year":"2017","journal-title":"R J."},{"key":"2026042405070097800_nvag031-B8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"821","DOI":"10.1006\/anbe.2000.1541","article-title":"Web damage and feeding experience influence web site tenacity in the orb-web spider Argiope keyserlingi Karsch","volume":"60","author":"Chmiel","year":"2000","journal-title":"Anim. Behav."},{"key":"2026042405070097800_nvag031-B9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"257","DOI":"10.2307\/2388653","article-title":"Alternative foraging modes of orb web weaving spiders","volume":"21","author":"Craig","year":"1989","journal-title":"Biotropica"},{"key":"2026042405070097800_nvag031-B10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"72","DOI":"10.1038\/nature10739","article-title":"Nonlinear material behaviour of spider silk yields robust webs","volume":"482","author":"Cranford","year":"2012","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"2026042405070097800_nvag031-B11","volume-title":"Spiders of North America: an identification manual","author":"Cushing","year":"2009"},{"key":"2026042405070097800_nvag031-B12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jmbbm.2016.12.008","article-title":"Biomechanical characterization of spider webs","volume":"67","author":"Das","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Mech. Behav. Biomed. Mater."},{"key":"2026042405070097800_nvag031-B13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"221","DOI":"10.1111\/cla.12165","article-title":"Rounding up the usual suspects: a standard target-gene approach for resolving the interfamilial phylogenetic relationships of ecribellate orb-weaving spiders with a new family-rank classification (Araneae, Araneoidea)","volume":"33","author":"Dimitrov","year":"2017","journal-title":"Cladistics"},{"key":"2026042405070097800_nvag031-B14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"19","DOI":"10.11646\/zootaxa.2396.1.2","article-title":"Mr. Darwin\u2019s mysterious spider: on the type species of the genus Leucauge (White, 1841) (Tetragnathidae, Araneae)","volume":"2396","author":"Dimitrov","year":"2010","journal-title":"Zootaxa"},{"key":"2026042405070097800_nvag031-B15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"328","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00389107","article-title":"The ecology of the web of Uloborus diversus (Araneae: Uloboridae)","volume":"6","author":"Eberhard","year":"1971","journal-title":"Oecologia"},{"key":"2026042405070097800_nvag031-B16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"417","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1469-7998.1972.tb04968.x","article-title":"The web of Uloborus diversus (Araneae: Uloboridae)","volume":"166","author":"Eberhard","year":"1972","journal-title":"J. Zool."},{"key":"2026042405070097800_nvag031-B17","first-page":"295","article-title":"Behavioral flexibility in orb web construction: effects of supplies in different silk glands and spider size and weight","volume":"16","author":"Eberhard","year":"1988","journal-title":"J. Arachnol."},{"key":"2026042405070097800_nvag031-B18","first-page":"45","article-title":"Effects of orb web orientation and spider size on prey retention","volume":"8","author":"Eberhard","year":"1989","journal-title":"Bull. Br. Arachnol. Soc."},{"key":"2026042405070097800_nvag031-B19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"437","DOI":"10.1111\/bij.12207","article-title":"A new view of orb webs: multiple trap designs in a single structure","volume":"111","author":"Eberhard","year":"2014","journal-title":"Biol. J. Linn. Soc. Lond."},{"key":"2026042405070097800_nvag031-B20","volume-title":"Spider webs: behavior, function, and evolution","author":"Eberhard","year":"2021"},{"key":"2026042405070097800_nvag031-B21","first-page":"1","article-title":"An ecological study of the spiders of the beech-maple forest","volume":"30","author":"Elliott","year":"1929","journal-title":"Ohio J. Sci."},{"key":"2026042405070097800_nvag031-B22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Fortner SA, Nienaber AK, Stark AY, et al \u00a02026. Data from: Effect of web inclination on debris-induced damage in Leucauge venusta webs (Araneae: Tetragnathidae). 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Ecol."},{"key":"2026042405070097800_nvag031-B38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"339","DOI":"10.1016\/j.zool.2006.04.002","article-title":"The effects of capture spiral composition and orb-web orientation on prey interception","volume":"109","author":"Opell","year":"2006","journal-title":"Zoology (Jena)"},{"key":"2026042405070097800_nvag031-B39","volume-title":"R: a language and environment for statistical computing","author":"R Development Core Team","year":"2024"},{"key":"2026042405070097800_nvag031-B40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"528","DOI":"10.2307\/1939313","article-title":"Ecology of mast-fruiting in three species of North American deciduous oaks","volume":"74","author":"Sork","year":"1993","journal-title":"Ecology"},{"key":"2026042405070097800_nvag031-B41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"459","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00378952","article-title":"Energetic cost of web construction and its effect on web relocation in the web-building spider Agelena limbata","volume":"81","author":"Tanaka","year":"1989","journal-title":"Oecologia"},{"key":"2026042405070097800_nvag031-B42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"273","DOI":"10.1007\/s10905-017-9618-0","article-title":"The effect of wind exposure on the web characteristics of a tetragnathid orb spider","volume":"30","author":"Tew","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. 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Sociobiol."},{"key":"2026042405070097800_nvag031-B47","volume-title":"Ecoregions of Kentucky (2-sided color poster with map, descriptive text, summary tables, and photographs; map scale 1: 1,000,000)","author":"Woods","year":"2002"}],"container-title":["Environmental Entomology"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/ee\/article-pdf\/55\/2\/nvag031\/68146381\/nvag031.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"syndication"},{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/ee\/article-pdf\/55\/2\/nvag031\/68146381\/nvag031.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,24]],"date-time":"2026-04-24T09:07:18Z","timestamp":1777021638000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/ee\/article\/doi\/10.1093\/ee\/nvag031\/8555642"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Nate","family":"Haan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"editor","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]]},"references-count":47,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,29]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/ee\/nvag031","relation":{},"ISSN":["0046-225X","1938-2936"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0046-225X","type":"print"},{"value":"1938-2936","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published-other":{"date-parts":[[2026,4]]},"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]]},"article-number":"nvag031"}}