Tarantula Science

[tangoblue37]

I have been going through a few threads and I have noticed that people always say that 'there is no scientific data' (or words to that effect) for [whatever they are taking about].

For example, the thread that I was just reading which was discussing if it is OK to chill Ts to make them easier to move, people have said that nobody really knows if it harms them long term because nobody has really ever studied it; this seems to be the case with a lot of things to do with Ts - no scientific info.

Do Ts just not get studied by the scientific community ever? This seems slightly odd because EVERYTHING nowadays seems to get studied by some scientist or field of science at some point.

Slightly confusing.

 

[Ziolizard]

This is puzzling to me as well. As 99% of the people in this world fear spiders (yes, that is a made-up estimate), it seems like there aren't too many people out there with advanced degrees in Entomology doing studies about tarantulas. This community (Arachnoboards) is the closest thing I've ever found to people who study tarantulas specifically. I'd imagine that most entomologists study bees, ants, butterflies, and things which have a more direct significance to our farming industry, thus being a more profitable route. Tarantulas aren't very high on most people's list of priorities (except ours, of course).

 

[freedumbdclxvi]

They are studied, just not as extensively as other types of animals. That said, you can always do a search on the web or try and contact people regarding specific questions. Sometimes, " there is no scientific data" is code for "I don't know" or "it wasn't on page one of my Google search".

 

[edgeofthefreak]

I remember seeing a thread or two, where about someone exclaimed a desire to study arachnids. Immediately were responses along the lines of requiring an entomology degree first, and once you have that (which takes years and years) you really just follow the funding. Funding isn't as readily allocated to spiders as it is to "production creatures" like ants, bees, and such.

Add to that a recent fact I just read, that approximately 99% of the world fears spiders[SUP][citation needed][/SUP], and that allocation drops considerably.


....we are the 1%? Lol?

 

[Poec54]

Funding isn't as readily allocated to spiders as it is to "production creatures" like ants, bees, and such.

Right, funding is the key, and tarantulas are at the bottom of the totem pole on that. They have no real ecomonic or safety impact on human society, and arachnologists prefer to study true spiders. It's only because the T hobby has gotten to be so huge that a few taxonomists have gotten involved (God bless them) and have helped to straighten it out. Money goes where it can produce a return, and no one's getting rich on tarantula taxonomy. A lot of colleges and universities put a large part of their resources into their sports programs, which are money makers (you jocks can take the credit for that). What's left for the nerds in the bug department?

Think about this: If you're an arachnologist, it's a lot easier to raise a family and have a normal life in America or Europe, making you much more likely to study true spiders near where you live. You walk in your backyard and there they are. It's a lot harder to talk the wife and kids into moving to a remote village in Africa or Indonesia so you can study the local tarantulas there. Besides the issues of standard of living and schools for the kids, language barriers, and being so far away from friends and relatives, there's safety concerns, whether food, medicine, or political unrest. It would be a huge sacrifice for most people. This is one reason why true spiders in North America and Europe get far more attention from professionals, than tarantulas in third world countries.

 

[Ziolizard]

I remember seeing a thread or two, where about someone exclaimed a desire to study arachnids. Immediately were responses along the lines of requiring an entomology degree first, and once you have that (which takes years and years) you really just follow the funding. Funding isn't as readily allocated to spiders as it is to "production creatures" like ants, bees, and such.

Add to that a recent fact I just read, that approximately 99% of the world fears spiders[SUP][citation needed][/SUP], and that allocation drops considerably.


....we are the 1%? Lol?

You didn't see my citation? It's in parenthesis. I made it up. =P

 

[PeaceBee]

I'm majoring in entomology, and I've given some consideration to what discipline I want to go into. Obviously I have a passion for arachnids (duh, I'm here!), but as others have mentioned, the money tends to be in other applications such as agriculture and forensic science. I have a friend who is an arachnologist and she works at a call center, which further leads me to believe that there's not much money to be made there. I'm not sure if there are other circumstances for her, but the opportunities just don't seem to be so great in that field, sadly. D:

------------------------------------
As a side note, this is based on limited knowledge Feel free to correct me if need be.

 

[lancej]

Another thing to consider is the long life spans of a lot of tarantulas. If someone was studying the life cycles of arthropods, it's hard to pick one that would take a decade or longer when there are so many species that have complete life cycles in a matter a single year (or several months or weeks). In the same amount of time to study one life cycle, you could study generations of others.

 

[845BigRed]

I don't necessarily think it requires a college degree, you just need to be aware of things and document them. I'm willing to bet theres middle school drop outs in Louisanna, Florida, Mississippi who can tell you everything you need to know about identifying gators, sexing them, what they eat, when they mate, etc.
What makes people experts in something is applying to time to read, study, and document their findings on certain things.

Theres a quote I read a while back that said the difference between science and idiots are scientists document what they do.
The Schmidt pain scale comes to mind, granted I think he actually was an entomologist, still he volunteered to get stung by some hundred something insects/animals. I don't need a college degree to willingly stick my hand in my T's cage and compare who has the more painful hair, who has a worst bite, who injects venom more often, etc.

This entire board here is science, we're documenting what we witness our Tarantula's doing, eating, acting, etc. You just need someone to collect the information stored here.

 

[Hersh77tess]

They are studied, just not as extensively as other types of animals. That said, you can always do a search on the web or try and contact people regarding specific questions. Sometimes, " there is no scientific data" is code for "I don't know" or "it wasn't on page one of my Google search".

Nice..... ;-)

 

[Scoolman]

No degree is required to study anything. Just a desire to learn, a willingness to read, and money, lots of money.

 

[Poec54]

I have a friend who is an arachnologist and she works at a call center, which further leads me to believe that there's not much money to be made there. I'm not sure if there are other circumstances for her, but the opportunities just don't seem to be so great in that field, sadly.

Yes, unfortunately arachnologists are not going to be anywhere near the top of the pay scale, or even in the middle. They've gotten to be driven by their internal passion. If you're working with animals that have an impact economically, then corporations are willing to pay a lot more. Interest in tarantulas is largely due to hobbyists, most of whom have spiders so that they can hold them and give them cute nucknames. Not like we're part of a huge scientific or intellectual movement.

 

[Smokehound714]

I'd like to read scientific articles without paying.

That always bothered me. To capitalize on knowledge in such a way really makes me sad.

 

[Poec54]

I'd like to read scientific articles without paying.

That always bothered me. To capitalize on knowledge in such a way really makes me sad.

Funding has to come from somewhere. Not like hundreds of stadiums are getting filled every weekend with beer-guzzling spider fans paying a lot of money for seats. The intellectual level in our country isn't all that high.

 

[PeaceBee]

Yes, unfortunately arachnologists are not going to be anywhere near the top of the pay scale, or even in the middle. They've gotten to be driven by their internal passion. If you're working with animals that have an impact economically, then corporations are willing to pay a lot more. Interest in tarantulas is largely due to hobbyists, most of whom have spiders so that they can hold them and give them cute nucknames. Not like we're part of a huge scientific or intellectual movement.

Very true!
Plus there's the whole social stigma against them, too. I've met my share of people who were afraid of them, who because of showing my interest as well as the diversity and neat features and facts about them, now find them to be neat critters (even if some of them still want them to stay away ). Many people just aren't thrilled about spiders, though!
Personally, I'd love to go out in the field and chase spiders one day Sounds like fun to me!

 

[Poec54]

Plus there's the whole social stigma against them, too.

+1. They don't have the cuddle factor that pandas and koalas do.

 

[Hersh77tess]

+1. They don't have the cuddle factor that pandas and koalas do.

If only people knew how much OBTs want to hug.
:biggrin:

 

[Bugmom]

Very true!
Plus there's the whole social stigma against them, too. I've met my share of people who were afraid of them, who because of showing my interest as well as the diversity and neat features and facts about them, now find them to be neat critters (even if some of them still want them to stay away ). Many people just aren't thrilled about spiders, though!
Personally, I'd love to go out in the field and chase spiders one day Sounds like fun to me!

It's lots of fun, and you come into contact with all kinds of fascinating creatures. Case in point, my forays in the field last night (see photo).

Come down here, I'll introduce you

 

[Naga]

The tarantula world pretty much relies on the people that own to tell you all they know. As has been said, plenty of money in this country goes into things that really have no bearing on anything. The best way to find out if something has a consequence to your tarantulas is to be the scientist yourself, and document it. That's pretty much how it goes. If you wanna know if that bite hurts, stick your hand in, and be prepared for the results. Not that I'm actually advising you to take a bite, but the rhetoric is that really, most owners only know based off of what they've done and seen themselves. Create a test environment, test, record, share with the world. Isn't that really all a scientist does anyway?

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

Sometimes, " there is no scientific data" is code for "I don't know" or "it wasn't on page one of my Google search".

I agree with this 100 percent. There is far more published material on tarantulas than I think the majority of the frequent contributors to this forum realize. The problem... it takes a lot of time and work to go find it and I believe laziness prevails over the desire for knowledge. Every scientific article has a bibliography and the best way to find more scientific information about tarantulas is to seek out what is in the bibliography. The venture will take one off of the internet because there is a lot you can't find online.

Also, it would appear that the majority of active tarantula forum participants don't consider any scientific information about closely related spider groups or other arthropods to form an informed hypothesis or suggestion. For example, if there isn't any data published on how cold effects tarantulas, is there anything published about how cold effects another mygalomorph taxa? There scope of thinking about a tarantula related question or problem is far too narrow for the majority it seems.