Is there a visual representation of how a tarantula sees?

Moakmeister

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Has anyone ever seen a simulation or some sort of representation showing how a tarantula sees? I've seen images that show what a person with certain eye diseases can see, or what insects with compound eyes. What about a tarantula? That would be weird to imagine, being able to see 360 degrees around.
 

Ungoliant

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Ah. I've heard that they can see vague shapes, but no color. And their eyes are arranged in a circle, so I thought they could see all around.
Given the simple anatomy of their eyes, possibly not much more than a typical orbweaver can see, which is just overall levels of light (to entrain their circadian rhythms to the day/night cycle).
 

Moakmeister

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Given the simple anatomy of their eyes, possibly not much more than a typical orbweaver can see, which is just overall levels of light (to entrain their circadian rhythms to the day/night cycle).
They probably won't ever evolve to lose their eyes for that reason. They're too useful.
 

Moakmeister

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Given the simple anatomy of their eyes, possibly not much more than a typical orbweaver can see, which is just overall levels of light (to entrain their circadian rhythms to the day/night cycle).
I would imagine that the quality of their eyesight is like yours is when you squint and almost close your eyes. You can see light and dark, and only very vague shapes. Not much else.
 

BobBarley

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Cave spiders who are in constant darkness. For a tarantula, though, who lives outside where the sun shines, it's important to know when it's daytime or nighttime.
Look up something along the lines of "blind cave tarantula in Mexico". ;)
 

Moakmeister

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Look up something along the lines of "blind cave tarantula in Mexico". ;)
I just thought of something that never really occurred to me. Do arboreal tarantulas have a worse sense of touch than terrestrials? Sort of like the scorpion thing where bigger claws means weaker venom. Arboreals have better eyesight, so much so that they can catch tiny insects as they fly by. Would terrestrials with their bad eyesight be more sensitive to vibrations?
 

BobBarley

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Arboreals have better eyesight, so much so that they can catch tiny insects as they fly by.
I have yet to see solid research on this. Only speculation.

I think what many don't realize is the extent of how well t's can sense vibrations. It's not just vibrations through the ground, up a tree, etc. it can be air movements that cause disturbances in the air that the t can sense. I for one, doubt an arboreal t's ability to see better.

I like to think of it this way:
Close your eyes. You know where your arms and legs are right? Well, I feel that the easiest way to think of it is that the t can do the same with its surroundings.
 

EulersK

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I don't know about that whole "light levels only" thing. With my P. striata and H. maculata's, they most certainly do see at least rudimentary movement. The light source for these spiders is behind them (so I didn't cast a shadow), and I've seen them scurry off at me waving my hand in front of their enclosure. I'm not saying that they saw a giant mammal waving its arms, but they definitely see some type of movement.
 

viper69

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I just thought of something that never really occurred to me. Do arboreal tarantulas have a worse sense of touch than terrestrials? Sort of like the scorpion thing where bigger claws means weaker venom. Arboreals have better eyesight, so much so that they can catch tiny insects as they fly by. Would terrestrials with their bad eyesight be more sensitive to vibrations?
I haven't seen any research on this. I would not state the above as fact at all as you did that is wrong to do. Remember others will come here, and may read your post and accept it as scientific fact.

At MOST write it as "some owners believe.....". It seems from owners, myself included, that some arboreals have better eyesight, but no one knows to the best of my knowledge via experiments. Also we don't know what they see either, changes in light intensity, moving shapes etc etc.
 

viper69

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Has anyone ever seen a simulation or some sort of representation showing how a tarantula sees? I've seen images that show what a person with certain eye diseases can see, or what insects with compound eyes. What about a tarantula? That would be weird to imagine, being able to see 360 degrees around.
There are tons of articles out there on spider vision, you should look it up if you haven't already.

Jumpers have the best vision out of all the spiders, including tarantulas.
 

Moakmeister

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I haven't seen any research on this. I would not state the above as fact at all as you did that is wrong to do. Remember others will come here, and may read your post and accept it as scientific fact.

At MOST write it as "some owners believe.....". It seems from owners, myself included, that some arboreals have better eyesight, but no one knows to the best of my knowledge via experiments. Also we don't know what they see either, changes in light intensity, moving shapes etc etc.
What did I state was fact? I was asking if arboreals had a weaker sense of touch due to their better eyesight. I thought the thing with the eyesight was already accepted as fact, because people constantly say it on these forums. Arboreal eyesight still isn't particularly good, but it's better at least. They can jump from branch to branch.
 

viper69

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I was asking if arboreals had a weaker sense of touch due to their better eyesight.
IF arboreals have better eyesight, this would be a very interesting question to know in comparison to their land-based relatives. This would be tested pretty easily in a number of different ways. The initial experiments would need to examine how sensitive the setae are before any of the latter comparisons would be tested.
 
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