Sistem Syaraf

Pusat sistem syara

Sistem syaraf pada laba laba berpusat di cephalothorax dengan hanya sedikit ganglia minor yang
terletak di abdomen. Jaringan syaraf (ganglia) bergabung menjadi ganglia yang terletak di bawah
esophagus dan di belakang otak. Otak laba-laba sendiri merupakan jarinan supraoesophageal
ganglion yang terletak di atas saluran cerna dan di depan perut penghisap. Bentuk otak atau
ganglion epipharyngealnya merefleksikan kebiasaan dari laba-laba tersebut, pada laba-laba
pembuat jaring bagian posterior otaknya lebih besar daripada laba-laba yang berburu mangsa
dengan penglihatan.

Adapun, fungsi otak tersebut bagi laba-laba adalah untuk memroses rangsang, terutama rangsang
yang diterima mata dan untuk respons tertentu, termasuk gerak dari chelicerae dan untuk proses
pengeluaran venom dari kelenjar venom. Respons tersebut penting untuk bertahan hidup. Selain
itu, otak laba-laba mempunyai kemampuan untuk memelajari sesuatu di masa lalu dan untuk
merespons dengan lebih tepat dalam menghadapi suatu kondisi yang sama.

Selain itu, pada laba-laba juga terdapat suboesophageal ganglion yang terletak di bawah
pencernaan dan dihubungkan dengan otak melalui ekstensi lateral. Ganglion tersebut berbentuk
bintang hampir mirip dengan bentuk syaraf manusia dan invertebrate lainnya. Ganglion ini
mengontrol jaringan otot laba-laba, terutama jaringan otot pada lengan laba-laba. Pada beberapa
spesies laba-laba dengan penglihatan tajam, ukuran otak laba-laba lebih besar daripada ukuran
ganglion suboesphageal. Sedangkan pada laba-laba pembuat jaring, ganglion suboesophagialnya
lebih besar daripada ukuran otaknya.

Reseptor sensoris pada laba-laba

1) Sentuhan dan getaran

Tubuh laba-laba memiliki rambut yang panjang dan ketebalannya bervariasi. Rambut
tersebut berfungsi untu mendetksi sentuhan dan getaran, tapi beberapa memiliki fungsi
tersendiri. Salah satunya adalah rambut pada lengannya yang disebut trichobothria.
Trichobothria berukuran sangat panjang dan bereaksi terhadap pergerakan udara,
termasuk pad pergerakan gelombang suara sehingga trichobothria juga berfungsi sebagai
auditory reseptor pada laba-laba.
2) Proprioceptor input

Berfungsi untuk mendeteksi posisi anggota badan laba-laba dan pergerakan antar otot
pada laba-laba. Selain itu, pada laba-laba juga terdapat celah reseptor lyriform yang
terdiri dari jaringan berbentuk garis-garis dan berfungsi untuk merespons perubahan
tekanan pada tubuh laba-laba. Jaringan tersebut juga berfungsi dalam pergerakan sendi
pada laba-laba. Jaringan ini terhubung dengan metatarsi tapi juga terdapat beberapa celah
yang lebih sederhana pada lengan, palp, dan beberapa spinneretnya.
3) Penglihatan dan sinyal suhu
Kebanyakan laba-laba memilik empat pasang mata, namun ada juga yang hanya memiliki
tiga pasang mata. Pada laba-laba primitive bahkan tidak mempunyai mata. Anterior
Median Eye (AME) merupakan mata terbesar dari keempat pasang mata dan berfungsi
sebagai mata utama (primer) yang dapat mendeteksi barang yang terletak di depan laba-
laba. Mata laba-laba berwarna hitam karena mengandung tapetum dan memiliki
kemampuan penglihatan yang tajam kecuali pada bagian lycosids dan deinopids di mana
posterior median eyes (PME) merupakan bagian mata terbesar dan yang paling banyak
digunakan dalam penglihatan. Tiga pasang mata lainnya yang disebut juga mata sekunder
berfungsi untuk penglihatan dalam cahaya remang dan untuk melihat pergerakan di tepi
laba-laba. Mata laba-laba tidak memiliki iris tapi terdapat struktur mirip iris pada
beberapa spesies yang disebut dengan vitreous atau pigmen sel yang berbentuk lingkaran
terletak di belakang kornea dan berfungsi mengatur cahaya yang masuk ke mata.Retina
terletak di belakang mata. Serabut syaraf pada retina berfungsi menyalukan informasi
visal ke otak.
 4) Rasa, pheromone, dan beberapa sinyal kimiawi

Laba-laba bisa merasakan makanan yang dia makan karena memiliki reseptor yang
bisa mendeteksi rasa. Namun, sistem tersebut tidak terdapat di saluran cerna namun di
permukaan luar tubuh laba-laba.

Laba-laba memiliki organ tarsal yang terletak di ujung distal dari tarsus pada masing-
masing lengan dan palps. Organ ini merupakan reseptor utama untuk feromone dan
untuk perubahan temperature dan kelembaban. Pada beberapa jenis, organ tersebut
juga berfungsi sebagai reseptor rasa.

Experiments with the common theridiid, Parasteatoda tepidariorum, have led to the
discovery of a very sensitive vibration receptor in the vicinity of the tarsus and
metatarsus of each leg on this spider. This is called a lyriform organ and consists of
ten slit receptors that are tuned for frequencies up to 1400 Hz and that can have their
sensitivities adjusted by changes in the tension on the slits. These lyriform organs are
also used for detecting airborne sounds rather than vibrations of the spider's web or of
the surface on which the spider is resting. There is mounting evidence that many other
kinds of spiders also have them.

Proprioception
Proprioceptors detect the position/posture of body appendages such as the leg
segments and also the orientation of the chelicerae, cephalothorax and abdomen with
respect to each other. There is also good circumstantial evidence that spiders are even
able to recognize their orientation in space. In other words, they know whether they
are upside down or not or at an angle other than the horizontal. Humans use the eyes
and several different kinds of balance receptors for this purpose and the same may be
true for spiders, although the nature of any balance receptors they may have (other
than the eyes and leg joint proprioceptors) is presently unknown.

The proprioceptors spiders use to the greatest extent are those associated with the leg
joints. These allow them to know the extent of flexion or extension that exists at each
joint at a given moment. Some extensive neurophysiological studies have been
performed on the overseas ctenid species, Cupiennius salei, and we now know that
this species has numerous hairs (or sometimes whole hair plates) of different sizes
around each of its joints and that the extent of deformation of these as flexion or
extension occurs at that joint is used by the spider's nervous system to monitor the
posture of that leg.

The lyriform slit receptors which, like the musical instrument their name suggests,
contain strips of tissue that respond to changes in tension are also important as joint
proprioceptors. These have been found associated with the metatarsi but there are also
some simpler slit sensilla in other leg, palp and probably spinneret joints also.
Similarly, slit sensilla in the pedicel are used to allow the spider to be aware of any
changes in the orientation of the abdomen with respect to the cephalothorax. Even the
cuticle itself seems to possess receptors that warn the spider of any deformation of
those parts of the body that are flexible.

Vision
Most spiders have four pairs of eyes. In a few families only three pairs are present and
a few primitive, minute or cave-dwelling species have no eyes at all. The anterior
median eyes (AME) are generally the largest of the four pairs and are usually referred
to as the primary eyes in that they detect things that are present directly in front of the
spider. They are always dark and have the greatest visual acuity except in lycosids and
deinopids where the posterior median eyes (PME) are the largest and the most useful
visually. The other three pairs of eyes, which are known as secondary eyes, are much
less efficient but still are useful to allow vision in dim light and to warn of movements
in the spider's periphery.

Anatomically, a spider's eye is reasonably similar to a human one. There is a curved

cornea and an associated lens which does not have an adjustable focus. The focal
distance of a spider's eyes therefore is fixed for most species. However, studies of the
anterior median eyes of salticids have revealed that they are not spherical but instead
taper like a telephoto lens system on a modern camera. This produces a very narrow
visual field but the salticids partly overcome this limitation by having small muscles
at the back of the AME to allow the eye to have its axis turned sideways to some
extent. These salticid eyes also have a cup-like front to the receptor cell mass and the
vitreous material that fills this depression therefore serves as a secondary lens and
gives the eye a telephoto capacity. This arrangement produces very good vision and is
one of the reasons why salticids are harder to catch than many other kinds of spiders.

Also missing from spider eyes is a coloured iris to regulate the amount of light that
enters the eye unit. On the other hand, in the eyes of some species there are vitreous or
pigment cells that form a ring just behind the cornea and thereby limit the entry of
peripheral light into the eye. A light-sensitive retina is present at the back of the eye
and nerve fibres from this conduct visual information down to the spider's brain.

The retina of a spider's eye has cellular arrangements that vary not only from species
to species but also from eye to eye on an individual spider. In the primary (AME) eyes
there is a layer (or sometimes several layers) of receptor cells, each with a nucleus
nearest the light then a light-sensitive area called a rhabdome or rhabdomere, and
finally a long fibrous tail which passes through some darkly pigmented cells to
become part of the optic nerve. As in vertebrates, this nerve carries the visual image
down to the spider's brain. In the three pairs of secondary eyes a typical spider
possesses there is a layer of reflective material called the tapetum lying just deeper
than the rhabdomere layer and this has the useful function of reflecting back onto the
rhabdomeres light rays that have bypassed them. This increases the sensitivity of the
secondary eyes in dim light. Except in just a few species such as the wolf spiders, they
have very low visual acuity.

The presence of the tapetum in these eyes is the reason why many species have on the
top of the head region a pair of eyes with a silvery appearance (light is being reflected
back out of the eye) and why wolf spiders have eyes that glow when a torch is shone
at them at night. Primary eyes normally look dark because they lack a tapetum. They
have variable rhabdomere distribution and orientation and at least one species is
claimed to be able to detect plane-polarised light because it has some of its
rhabdomeres orientated at right angles to others. Some people who photograph spiders
are surprised to observe that occasionally the eyes have a colour other than silvery
white or almost black. When the eyes appear to be green, blue, red, or yellow this is
an artifact effect. It may be caused by diffraction of the light used to illuminate the
spider that is being photographed. Alternatively, it could be due to transmission of
light forwards through a red, green, or orange area of the cephalothorax.

A considerable amount of research has now been performed to determine the

wavelengths of light to which the visual receptors of spiders' eyes are most
responsive. What is now clear is that in this respect there are some noteworthy
differences between different kinds of spiders and also between primary and
secondary eyes. In general it can be said that secondary eyes contain only one light-
sensitive pigment and that this is responsive to light in the 500-540 nM wavelength
range, which means green or blue light. On the other hand primary eyes generally
seem to be able to detect visible light of a turquoise colour as well as light at a
wavelength of approximately 360 nM, which is in the near-ultraviolet range.

A number of researchers have claimed to have shown convincingly that some kinds of
spiders do have colour vision, their eyes possessing receptors for orange, turquoise,
blue-violet and ultraviolet wavelengths and it has even been suggested that salticid
anterior median eyes have three or four layers of receptor cells because they use three
or four different receptor types. However, other studies have failed to confirm these
claims. It is probably that each species has eyes with a receptor system that is
appropriate for the habitat and behavioural patterns it has chosen to adopt and that
good colour discrimination is relatively unimportant for spiders.
The chemical senses
These are known to be present in spiders but information about them is very limited. It
seems likely that spiders can taste what they are about to eat and for this reason rarely
attempt to digest anything that is not suitable as food for them. The nature and
location of the receptors responsible for this awareness remain to be discovered but it
appears that they are not in the digestive system itself but somewhere on the outer
body surfaces. In addition, the distal end of the tarsus of each walking leg and also the
palps of some spiders has been found to possess a minute entrance to a very small
cavity called a tarsal organ. This is now considered to be the spider's main receptor
structure for pheromones and for awareness to changes in temperature and humidity.
For at least some species it may also serve as a taste receptor unit. Spiders probably
also need to know when their tracheal system requires better ventilation and this
implies a need for internal receptors that respond to changes in the concentration of
oxygen, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen ions (acidity) in the haemolymph.
Unfortunately, no one has so far managed to locate these receptors with any certainty.

Perhaps the most certain and best studied of the chemical receptor systems found in
spiders are those that respond to pheromones, especially those released by members of
the opposite sex (generally the female). Pheromones are odours that can be detected in
the air surrounding a spider as well as being released onto the female's silk and
possibly some body surfaces as well. These substances are difficult to study because
the concentrations present are extremely low, but they are low-molecular-weight
lipid-soluble chemicals that may be volatile lipids or substances somewhat like the
aromatic terpenoids of plants. Several studies of pheromone responses by male spiders
have suggested that the tarsal organs of the male palps are particularly important for
pheromone detection. Not only do they detect the presence of an adult female but they
also trigger avoidance responses in competing males of the same species. Some spider
genera with a tendency towards social behaviour also have other pheromones that the
adults (only) add to their silk to persuade females to tolerate the presence of other
females in their vicinity.

Some related sources of information

The pages on spider movements and growth and reproduction contain some
information that is related to what is covered in the above paragraphs. In addition, the
following articles are worth reading:

Barth, F.G. (2002) "A Spider's World: Senses and Behaviour" Springer-Verlag, Berlin
(ISBN 3-540-42046-0)

Gingl E. and Tichy H. (2006) "Continuous Tonic Spike Activity in Spider Warm Cells
in the Absence of Sensory Input" J. Neurophysiol., 96, 989-997.

DeVoe R.D., Small R.J.W. and Zvargulis J.E. (1969) "Spectral Sensitivities of of
Wolf Spider Eyes" J. General Physiol., 54, 1-30.

Tiedemann K.B>, Ventura D.F. and Ades C. (1986) "Spectral Sensitivities of the Eyes
of the Orb Web Spider Argiope argentata (Fabricius)" J. arachnology, 14, 71-78.

Blest A.D., Williams D.S. and Link Kao (1980) The Posterior Median Eyes of the
Deinopid Spider Menneus" Cell Tissue Research 211, 391-403.

Williams D.S. and McIntyre P. "The principal eyes of a jumping spider have a
telephoto component" Nature, 288, 5780580.

. Structures called rhabdoms, which receive light rays, face the lenses
in the main eyes; in the other eyes the rhabdoms turn inward. Both the
structure of the secondary eyes and eye arrangement are
characteristic for each family.
Other sense organs are long fine hairs (trichobothria) on the legs,
which are sensitive to air currents and vibrations. Slit sense organs in
the form of minute slits or several parallel slits either are located near
the leg joints or are scattered over the body. The slit is closed toward
the outside by a thin membrane and on the other side by another
membrane that may be penetrated by a nerve. Slit sense organs are
sensitive to stresses on the cuticle; other sense organs act as
vibration receptors or hearing organs. Internal receptors
(proprioceptors) provide information about body movement and
position. Olfactory (smell-related) organs are specialized hollow hairs
found at the tips of pedipalps and legs. Olfaction is used mainly to
sense pheromones.

Seyfarth E.A., Eckweiler W. and Hammer K. (1985) "Proprioceptors and sensory

nerves in the legs of a spider, Curiennius salei (Arachnida,
Araneida)" Zoomorphology, 105, 190-196.

Evans T.A. and Main B.Y. (1993) "Attraction between social crab spiders: silk
pheromones in Diaea socialis" Behav. Ecol.,42, 99-105.

Walcott C. (1969) "A Spider's Vibration Receptor: Its Anatomy and

Physiology" American Zoologist, 9, 133-144.

Fabian-Fine R., Hoger U., Seyfarth E.A. and Meinertzhagen I.A. (1999) "Periperal
Synapses at Identified Mechanosensory Neurons in Spiders: Three-Dimensional
Reconstruction and GABA Immunochemistry" J. Neuroscience, 19, 298-310.