Can T's see red light?

[Linda Landsman]

I was just wondering, :? since most of my T's come out at night, and I love to watch, can I use a red light to view them? Without disturbing? As soon as my Cobalt, Minax, Regalis, sees me , they hide. Thanks!

 

[Cerbera]

What do T's see ?

The views are mixed on this one, and have been thoroughly debated on other threads... still - no harm in a fresh round of discussions

So I thought I'd get my oar in first and tell you that all my spiders stop what they are doing when I shine a red LED light on them, and therefore I surmise that they can see it.

There will be many others who disagree with this completely, tho...

T eyesight is a v interesting topic for me - I am sure that level of vision very much varies between different species and from genus to genus etc...

My A.seemanni, for example, barely reacts to anything that isn't going on less than 3" in front of her, but I've seen a P. irminia vault out of a cage to catch a passing flying insect, which obviously requires a far higher level of seeing power and accuracy.

So - some things to think about there, perhaps...

 

[car1097]

i watch my avic avic with a red light and he doesnt stop moving but when i turn on the regular light he stops moving...so id say you can watch it with a red light without disturbing it

 

[ShadowBlade]

i watch my avic avic with a red light and he doesnt stop moving but when i turn on the regular light he stops moving...so id say you can watch it with a red light without disturbing it

Hm... kind of a bold statement eh? I've had B. albo's and Avics that will eat with flashlight in their face.
Although I don't think u would be 'bothering' it, unless it moves, (like away), then I guess that particulary individual don't like it!
I think on average, T's can percieve red light, but I think it more varies between terrestrials and arboreals. (If arboreals jump, they have to percieve distance quite well, which is better then some terrestrials!).

 

[T. Junkie1]

It could have something to do with the intensity of the light be it red, blue or otherwise. There again it goes back to the individual T, some won't be bothered by low level light while others are cautious of it.

 

[Cirith Ungol]

Hm... kind of a bold statement eh? I've had B. albo's and Avics that will eat with flashlight in their face.

Doing maintenance while a T is eating is almost a safe bet that there won't be so much complications. Eating must be pretty high on their list of priorities and it absolutely comes before any light issues. They are simply too pre-occupied.

But if you see that your T is cleaning itself or slowly walking across the tank I'm pretty sure that once you shine a bright white light at them it will stop after 1-2 seconds. Happens here every time.

Use red light and there is no end at what they'll do

 

[TheNatural]

I use red light and Im 100% satisfected - max. of 15W for each enclosure

 

[Lover of 8 legs]

I use a red light that gets no reaction from any of my Ts regardless of what they are doing.

 

[Fierce Deity]

I am pretty sure that if you use a low intensity red light, it wont have any effect. I think that it is the intensity or power/brightness of the light that matters, not the color. If it is darker with the low intensity red light than it is with the normal lighting, I'm pretty sure they could tell the difference between day and night.

 

[juggalo69]

So if a T has a burrow right next to the glass could you use a red filter of some sort to cover it so the T will think it is dark no matter how much light is in the room?

 

[bugs4life]

Hm... kind of a bold statement eh? I've had B. albo's and Avics that will eat with flashlight in their face.
Although I don't think u would be 'bothering' it, unless it moves, (like away), then I guess that particulary individual don't like it!
I think on average, T's can percieve red light, but I think it more varies between terrestrials and arboreals. (If arboreals jump, they have to percieve distance quite well, which is better then some terrestrials!).

Lol, my two G. rosea will eat with a flashlight in their faces, too. My H. lividum is ok with the flashlight as well...surprisingly enough!

 

[Ronj]

I think we are missing something else here!

I use red light and Im 100% satisfected - max. of 15W for each enclosure

First,
I believe that your lights are permanently installed above each tank. I remember seeing the pictures and am working on a set for my collection. Very nice job by the way! :worship: This may be important as you do not have to walk up and point the light directly at your tarantulas to view after dark.

I think there is a point that is being missed in regards to the red light question. First, tarantulas are nocturnal creatures and hunt mostly at night. We know that hunting usually means waiting for something to walk by and BANG, dinner. I believe that they do not use their eyesight as much as the sensitive hairs that cover their bodies to detect vibrations caused by slight movements. Tarantulas rely on their sense of touch a great deal more then eyesight.

So, what I am saying is that by simply walking into a room, or opening a door, you have alerted the spider that something is changing. As you get closer I imagine that something as small as you breathing is being detected and analyzed. Also, while they may not see a red light, they do have 8 eyes that detect movement pretty darn good. It's like trying to sneak up on a cat, very hard to do under any circumstance.

 

[TheNatural]

I am pretty sure that if you use a low intensity red light, it wont have any effect. I think that it is the intensity or power/brightness of the light that matters, not the color. If it is darker with the low intensity red light than it is with the normal lighting, I'm pretty sure they could tell the difference between day and night.

yes, they can tell the difference between day and night. Its important to give them the day/night light cycle.

About light and colors....

There are an infinite numbers of colors, but all them are combinations of the 3 primary colors - Red, yellow and Blue plus varying degrees os black (shadow) and white (light). For example the pure green color is yellow+blue. The daylight (white) is a combination of all colors so if U use a red light you are not using any yellow and blue colors, it means that you are reducing the spectrum of the light and this is quite different from intensity.

 

[Thoth]

Simple answer to original question, no. Here is a journal article studying tarantual vision, deals with Aphonopelma but results can probably be safely extrapolated to other ts. <edit: you'll need Acrobat Reader to open the link>

http://www.americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v17_n2/JoA_v17_p195.pdf



Quick summary their ocelli do not respond to the red wavelength of light, i.e. can't see red light

 

[Snipes]

I recently got a night vision scope with a IR lens. It is awsome, i can see them in perfect clarity light the light of day and they are very active because it is "night time" for them. I would cast my vote for that they cannot see it. I had a red light that i used to use but they would feel the heat i think.

 

[Steve Nunn]

Simple answer to original question, no.

Hi,
Agree, the simple eyes of tarantulas cannot see the light once the spectrum is broken down. Good link, thanks for posting it Tarantulas cannot detect red light, it's simply impossible for them to do so. Any movement detected when someone shines a red light on a spider is probably more to do with the vibrations of being near the enclosure then the actual light itself.

I've seen this debated here before, really there is no debate, they simply cannot detect light once the spectrum is broken down, same with blue light or yellow light for that matter

I should also mention that this rule does not apply to all spiders however, some spiders, such as the Lycosidae, have polarised vision and one spider in particular, the jumping spider from Australia, Portia fimbriata, has the second best vision of any known animal on the planet!!!

Cheers,
Steve

 

[duente]

Hi,
the jumping spider from Australia, Portia fimbriata, has the second best vision of any known animal on the planet!!!

this is very interesting!do you have any links providing more info on that?and what would be the other animal with the best vision?

 

[Steve Nunn]

Hi,
Here's the reference:

Raven, R.J. 2000: Wildlife of Tropical North Qld., Qld Museum publication, pge 30.

If you do a search on some of the big arachnological sites you might come up with some more info, as this is one hell of a fascinating species for many other reasons (also considered the "smartest" of all spiders) try the J.O.A., etc...

Cheers,
Steve

 

[Scolopendra55]

None of my T's seem to mind red light, whereas white lite freaks them out.

 

[jbrd]

Mine dont "seem " to mind the red LED lights i have on them, but i do notice a change when i turn on a regular white light though.