red hair under fangs??

[rustym3talh3ad]

so its become very apparent to me that every tarantula ive seen has red hair under their fangs. no matter what species or whether its new or old world theres red hair there. what is it, what is its purpose and what is the connection to all have red hair? i understand we all have red lips or for the most part so is that their lips lol?

 

[kimantha]

so its become very apparent to me that every tarantula ive seen has red hair under their fangs. no matter what species or whether its new or old world theres red hair there. what is it, what is its purpose and what is the connection to all have red hair? i understand we all have red lips or for the most part so is that their lips lol?

Maybe it's part of the threat display? Sort of like when Native americans and others used warpaint, to frighten and confuse enemies?

 

[rustym3talh3ad]

good possibility but im looking for actual evidence of what this is, so let me go ahead and say lets keep this to facts or actual knowledge instead of guessing and possible ideas.

 

[joshuai]

good possibility but im looking for actual evidence of what this is, so let me go ahead and say lets keep this to facts or actual knowledge instead of guessing and possible ideas.

good luck!

 

[deathcrew]

Red hairs are to simulate an open mouth in a threat posture.

 

[Endagr8]

Bright colors are usually a warning to predators. Example: Dart frogs rely on their bright color for defense.

 

[rustym3talh3ad]

so there is no significant reasoning behind the red color of the Setae other than some evolutionary change to be more scary looking to predators? if so why all red, why arent some blue purple or green? also, what is that part of the "mouth" called? im curious to know if it has a scientific name and what i can learn from researching it.

 

[stevetastic]

my guess would be less of a "warning coloration" and more of a "shock coloration" kind of like the tongue of a blue tongue skink or the yellow under the legs of pokies. Any kind of sudden change whether it be color, shape, size or behavior in the animal word normally has some sort of defensive (or reproductive) nature to it. just speculation on my part tho. if it is the case it would be interesting to see how they ALL evolved red hairs.

 

[rustym3talh3ad]

thats kinda my point, i think we can speculate WHY they have it, but why the hell is it all red? i mean there isnt one species of T that has the same color or pattern yet name one T that doesnt have a red under fang setae...its kinda mind boggling.

 

[Crazy0monkey]

"why they have it"

They have it to fend off predators, Its pretty simple if you think about why. The statement about it being a threat posture mechagnism has been posted many times. And that is simply what it does. It makes predators or enemenys go away.. Well atleast trys 2

 

[equuskat]

There are certain colors in nature that are "warning colors" and are repeated over and over again in nature...usually they are red or yellow. Green and blue just aren't "threatening".

 

[Radamanthys]

maybe a T's common ancestors had those red hairs under the fangs, that looks very scary and intimidanting in threat postures, and it worked so well all of them inherited it. You gotta admit that other colors aren't as nearly as scary

 

[Sterlingspider]

There are certain colors in nature that are "warning colors" and are repeated over and over again in nature...usually they are red or yellow. Green and blue just aren't "threatening".

Blue seems to be the universal sign of "not tasty, at best ".

 

[Scolopendra777]

Well you learn something every day

 

[mutley100]

You're never going to get a definitive answer as to why due to the fact that they were not designed by man but evolved . The best explanation you'll get is that the colour red somehow adds something to the survival of the species .

So , the threat display seems like the most likely 'reason' . Unless the colour is somehow 'locked' into the genes for the hair .

 

[Crazy0monkey]

i ment "warning" in my statement 2 i just didint make it clear enough. Its pretty much a defence mechagnism. Bright colors or paterns are found on many sp. all through the world. Just keeps them safe thats all

 

[Paramite]

Actually the red hair isn't that pronounced with some species, like Pokies. Of course it's still there.

By the way, good timing with this thread. I discussed this with my girlfriend just today.

 

[the nature boy]

There are certain colors in nature that are "warning colors" and are repeated over and over again in nature...usually they are red or yellow. Green and blue just aren't "threatening".

Good point, Katy!

 

[UrbanJungles]

While you guys are throwing out guesses, keep in mind that spiders probably see things at a different light wavelength...what we see as red can be something completely different to other inverts.

 

[Kirk]

While you guys are throwing out guesses, keep in mind that spiders probably see things at a different light wavelength...what we see as red can be something completely different to other inverts.

And, to presume red hairs are warning coloration requires that predators have sufficient color vision, which isn't necessarily the case.