Bonnetina sp. building turrets or trap doors

[jrh3]

Has anyone witnessed bonnetina species build turrets with trap doors on top? A friend of mine told me about this a while ago. He said once they hit around 1.5"-2" they will build turrets, and his has built a trap door. I now have witnessed my bonnetina vittata build its own turret and looks like it is forming a door on the top. It will actually sit just below the opening. Next time I feed I will try to video and see if it indeed uses a trap door like I. Mira species. The turrets alone are cool to see.

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

Without any pictures showing what one of these turrets or trapdoors look like, I will speculate that neither are being truly constructed. In the wild, burrowing tarantulas gather a small amount of soil from the bottom of the burrow and deposit it at the entrance. Over time there will be a small mound of loose soil that collects at the entrance and the weather eventually disperses it leaving a nice clean circular hole in the ground. In captivity, burrowing tarantulas build in the same way, but with no weather the soil never dissipates and a fairly large cone shaped mound of soil is left. There are, of course, tarantulas that will build proper trapdoors and turrets in the wild, and in captivity, but these are usually structurally reinforced with silk.

 

[Edan bandoot]

There is a paper the demonstrates their burrow structures, and it doesn't include turrets. I have never seen a turret from them in captivity either.

 

[jrh3]

Without any pictures showing what one of these turrets or trapdoors look like, I will speculate that neither are being truly constructed. In the wild, burrowing tarantulas gather a small amount of soil from the bottom of the burrow and deposit it at the entrance. Over time there will be a small mound of loose soil that collects at the entrance and the weather eventually disperses it leaving a nice clean circular hole in the ground. In captivity, burrowing tarantulas build in the same way, but with no weather the soil never dissipates and a fairly large cone shaped mound of soil is left. There are, of course, tarantulas that will build proper trapdoors and turrets in the wild, and in captivity, but these are usually structurally reinforced with silk.

I will try to get some better pictures tomorrow but you can see it only built up one corner with substrate and there is a little hole at the top opening. The tarantula sits just below the hole even though it has tunneled all under the substrate impressive tunnels too.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

My B. hijmenseni female hasn't burrowed and barely uses her hide, she's just kinda thrown odd bits of webbing everywhere like a half-arsed D. diamantinensis. She's around 2" - 2.5".

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

I will try to get some better pictures tomorrow but you can see it only built up one corner with substrate and there is a little hole at the top opening. The tarantula sits just below the hole even though it has tunneled all under the substrate impressive tunnels too.

I see what it does there!

What makes tarantulas so remarkable compared to their relatives in the Mygalomorphae is that they will build or adapt structures in their surroundings to suit their shelter needs as opposed to having a strict requirement to do one thing. What your spiderling is doing is modifying that piece of cork bark using silk and web to make its own hide it feels comfortable in. Following the point @Edan bandoot made, if Bonnetina species were strict turret or trapdoor building spiders, they would be observed doing so in nature. Since the species in that genus have not been observed doing so, you can arrive at the conclusion based on what they do in captivity that they have the ability to adapt their surroundings to their needs as opposed to following a strict instinctual protocol for building a shelter. This isn't unique to Bonnetina species. What you see your spiderling doing is the same behavior as, say, a Poecilotheria species building their famous dirt curtains when they are provided just a wide piece of cork bark to hide behind.

 

[coolnweird]

I see what it does there!

What makes tarantulas so remarkable compared to their relatives in the Mygalomorphae is that they will build or adapt structures in their surroundings to suit their shelter needs as opposed to having a strict requirement to do one thing. What your spiderling is doing is modifying that piece of cork bark using silk and web to make its own hide it feels comfortable in. Following the point @Edan bandoot made, if Bonnetina species were strict turret or trapdoor building spiders, they would be observed doing so in nature. Since the species in that genus have not been observed doing so, you can arrive at the conclusion based on what they do in captivity that they have the ability to adapt their surroundings to their needs as opposed to following a strict instinctual protocol for building a shelter. This isn't unique to Bonnetina species. What you see your spiderling doing is the same behavior as, say, a Poecilotheria species building their famous dirt curtains when they are provided just a wide piece of cork bark to hide behind.

Well said! I love species that build dirt curtains specifically because enclosures can be set up to encourage faux-turret building. The structures they build are fascinating!

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

Well said! I love species that build dirt curtains specifically because enclosures can be set up to encourage faux-turret building. The structures they build are fascinating!

That's where we differ. I hate dirt curtains and tube webs in the corners of an enclosure. LOL My ultimate goal in tarantula keeping is to have an arboreal species that builds a tube web behind a piece of bark on a big log, or in a hole in a log, instead of on the sides or corners of its enclosure so I can get an idea of how they live in nature without going to some jungle. Also, if I need to rehouse, I could just pick up the log with spider inside without having to chase it around with a plastic container and a stick. Who knew that would be so difficult?

 

[jrh3]

That's where we differ. I hate dirt curtains and tube webs in the corners of an enclosure. LOL My ultimate goal in tarantula keeping is to have an arboreal species that builds a tube web behind a piece of bark on a big log, or in a hole in a log, instead of on the sides or corners of its enclosure so I can get an idea of how they live in nature without going to some jungle. Also, if I need to rehouse, I could just pick up the log with spider inside without having to chase it around with a plastic container and a stick. Who knew that would be so difficult?

All of my arboreal species have done this. I have tubes and flat cork bark and they build either in or behind them with massive webbing.