Candido Diaz

Assistant Professor of Biology

My academic passion has always bounced between physics and biology, ultimately obtaining a degree in Physics and Astronomy from Vassar College. I was lucky enough to conduct acoustics research during my undergrad but then found the call of biology too strong. I then had the honor of working with John Long and Marianne Porter on the material properties of shark vertebrae and a new love was found. I am an Ecomechanist who travels into the field to study the material properties of the glue produced by rare spiders to capture moths. At heart, I love evolutionary specialist animals and the weird things they are able to do. These amazing spiders use a combination of strange web structures, pheromones, and a special silk glue to retain hard-to-catch prey.

  • Postdoctoral Research II - Florida Atlantic University, Ashkaan K. Fahmipour
  • Postdoctoral Research I - Vassar College, John H. Long
  • PhD, Integrated Bioscience- University of Akron, Todd Blackledge
  • BA Physics; BA Astronomy, Vassar College, New York

Contact

Candido Diaz

More About Candido Diaz

Areas of Expertise

  • Arachnology
  • Biomechanics
  • Ecomechanics
  • Ecology

Course Sampling

  • Introductory Biology 142P
  • Biostatistics

  • Arachnology
  • Biology
  • Physics
  • Biomechanics

  • VanDyck, M. W., Long Jr, J. H., Baker, R. H., Hayashi, C. Y., & Diaz Jr, C. Special Prey, Special Glue: NMR Spectroscopy on Aggregate Glue Components of Moth-Specialist Spiders, Cyrtarachninae. Biomimetics. 9(5) (2024). 256.
  • Diaz, C., and John H. Long Jr. "Behavior and Bioadhesives: How Bolas Spiders, Mastophora Hutchinsoni, Catch Moths." Insects 13.12 (2022): 1166.
  • Diaz, C., and John Roff. "Mechanics of the Prey Capture Technique of the South African Grassland Bolas Spider, Cladomelea Akermani." Insects 13.12 (2022): 1118.
  • Diaz Jr, C., Baker, R., Hiyashi, C., Long, J. Connecting Materials, Performance, and Evolution: A Case Study of the Glue of Moth-Catching Spiders (Cyrtarachninae). Journal of Experimental Biology. JEXBIO/2021/243271
  • Diaz Jr, C., Maksuta D., Amarpuri, G., Tanikawa, A., Dhinojwala, A., Miyashita, T., Blackledge, T. The moth specialist spider Cyrtarachne Akira uses prey scales to increase adhesion. Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 17 (2020) 
  • Diaz C., Tanikawa A., Miyashita T., Amarpuri G., Jain D., Dhinojwala A., Blackledge T.A. (2018). Supersaturation with water explains the unusual adhesion of aggregate glue in the webs of the moth-specialist spider, Cyrtarachne Akirai. The Journal of the Royal Society Open Science. 5:181296. 
  • Diaz, C., Tanikawa, A., Miyashita, T., Dhinojwala, A., & Blackledge, T.A. (2018). Silk structure rather than tensile mechanics explains web performance in the moth-specialized spider, Cyrtarachne. Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological and Integrative Physiology, 329(3), 120-129.
  • Amarpuri, G., Zhang, Diaz Jr, C., Opell, B. D., Blackledge, T. A., & Dhinojwala, A. (2015). Spiders tune glue viscosity to maximize adhesion. ACS Nano, 9(11), 11472-11478.
  • Bradley, D., Diaz Jr, C., Snow, E. (2014). Improved sound field reverberance and diffusivity in a reverberation chamber through the implementation of resonant-diffusing wall panels. Acta Acustica united with Acustica, 101(1), 181-189.
  • Porter, M. E., Diaz Jr, C., Sturm, J. J., Grotmol, S., Summers, A. P., & Long Jr, J. H. (2014). Built for speed: strain in the cartilaginous vertebral columns of sharks. Zoology, 117(1), 19-27.