Bright coloring on slings...Why?

D Sherlod

Arachnoknight
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Dec 30, 2016
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Why in nature would slings be so bightly colored? A slings role is to hide ,,, eat and grow. The bright coloration seems to go against the the thought of hiding.

Any thoughts or info to explain this.
 

ledzeppelin

Arachnobaron
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perhaps because bright coloration is often an indication of poisonous animals (if consumed) and predators tend to avoid prey with such colors? just guessing here but seems logical :D
 

N1ghtFire

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Jun 17, 2016
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Depending on where the sling is from, the bright colors may actually help it hide. Say they live in trees among colorful flowers, their bright colors could blend them into their bright surroundings.
some animals also have bright colors as a warning to predators that they are dangerous and should not be eaten, the slings bright color could be a natural way to ward off predators by making them think the sling is toxic. For example fireflies glow bright green and have a very bitter taste so most predators know not to eat them even though they are basically a big glowing target and make no effort to blend in. Same with monarch butterflies, they are very bitter and most birds won't eat them and avoid other butterflies that resemble them. Just some thoughts. :3
 

DPetsche

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Yeah like stated already, it's probably they're way of keeping predators away from rather than their way of hiding. Everyone goes about things differently!
 

cold blood

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But soooooo few slings are actually brightly colored.....Most brightly colored tarantulas dont start life out that way.
 

creepa

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Its either camouflage colors or bright warning colors on slings..., both are a good strategy!
 

D Sherlod

Arachnoknight
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But soooooo few slings are actually brightly colored.....Most brightly colored tarantulas dont start life out that way.
That's what made me question it. Dull colors,,, browns etc equal hiding. Bright colored slings don't make sense.

In wild adult bright colors indicate warnings or for mating
 

Biollantefan54

Arachnoking
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That's what made me question it. Dull colors,,, browns etc equal hiding. Bright colored slings don't make sense.

In wild adult bright colors indicate warnings or for mating

Not necessarily for mating since tarantulas are practically blind, it's probably just so animals think they are dangerous so they don't get eaten running around in the open
 

johnny quango

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This may sound crazy but just because something is brightly-coloured it doesn't mean it's easy to spot or isn't camouflaged. Apart from the obvious most brightly coloured creatures are generally seen as nasty tasting or poisonous but there's something else alot of Avics and other arboreals aren't even green as slings or adults yet they spend most of their lives in the canopy of green.

The other example isn't linked to tarantulas but it's sort of the same thing, during ww2 British engineers and designers decided to paint spitfire planes pink and the so called experts laughed because a pink plane in a blue sky backed by white clouds would stand out like a sore thumb only it didn't it was virtually invisible unless directly above them and against a sunset or sunrise when clouds have a pinkish hue it was almost impossible to see them from any angle. Personally I think arboreals come under this as from below you'd probably never see them.

Most terrestrial species are as slings a standard brown colour, as predators will be looking from above and it makes them less likely to be eaten
 

cold blood

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Heres another couple things about the bright colors equating to danger.

1. Many, if not most of their predators are color blind to some degree...so bright to us may be shades of grey to many predators. Most predators key in on movement, not color.

2. I could make a gigantic list of seriously potent ts that are black or brown....just look at the baddies from Austrailia....granted, many stridulate...which is probably far more effective than color schemes could ever be.

Conversly, the list would be just as long for the bright ts that have very mild venoms....

3. All tarantulas, regardless of color or potency, are potentially a meal for something....so if its a warning, its not a very effective one.
 

Ungoliant

Malleus Aranearum
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What looks like bright coloring to us is not always conspicuous to their predators.

Many animals lack color vision, but even ones that can see in color are sometimes limited in the range of colors. (For example, spiders can't see the red end of the spectrum.)

Some predators see parts of the spectrum we can't see. For example, if you're trying to hide from a predator that sees ultraviolet light, it might not matter that you're bright blue as long as you're UV-camouflaged.

Additionally, some patterns can aid in camouflage even though they involve bright colors. For example, my tiger-striped Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens sling can be hard to spot, because the dark stripes on his abdomen resemble the shadows cast by the leaves and vines in his enclosure.
 

Nightstalker47

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Let's not forget that many animals mimic highly venomous species that they are not, such as the common milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum), the color deterrent can be effective on some predators and useless against others. I can speculate that perhaps Ts may have evolved in a similar fashion to look more dangerous then they really are.

They also have such a wide range of natural predators, so to have several differring defense attributes seems logical. Some predators will eat and consume highly venomous inverts without issue, others may avoid them altogether.
 
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