Tarantulas and science projects

[Sarah]

Hey, everyone! I'm planning to do my science project this year on tarantulas: have about 6, and put them each in different environments with different food, and after a few weeks, have them each go through and obstacle course, and whichever one goes through the quickest must be the healthiest, therefore having the best food and environment. Does it sound like there's any flaws in that? I would want to do all this without hurting the tarantulas, of course. But I was thinking it would be even more interesting if I could do it on tarantula intelligence. But what could I do with that? Any ideas on this would be really appreciated. Also I was wondering if spiders are included in entomology; entomology is study of insects, but I always see arachnids included under that heading in science books. I was also wondering what species I should go with (the least poisonous, I'm thinking!) and how big their cages need to be. And if I'm going to buy several of them, should I just buy them from a tarantula breeder instead of buying them for a higher price at the pet store? My investigation plan isn't due for quite some time, but I like to be prepared ahead ~Sarah

 

[caligulathegod]

How would you get them to go through an obstacle course? I love my tarantulas but for the most part they are fuzzy pet rocks. They aren't mice or rats that will run to get cheese on the other end. Even when there is food wandering about they would rather wait for it and pounce than chase it. A healthy diet and environment will make them content to sit. My tarantulas are usually active, as far as they go, at night, anyway.

 

[arachnopunks]

Maybe you could do the project on the relationship of tarantulas and other spider to humans. Speaking in terms of many aspects: Insect control, agriculture, the use of T venom for medical research and/or the hobby of tarantula keeping. I once read an agricultural report about the Chinese introducing man-made burrows within their planted rows to encourage spiders to live there and have since reduced their use of insecticides by 60%. If I can find that report I'll post the link, it may be interesting to you.

 

[arachnopunks]

http://www.solutions-site.org/artman/publish/article_11.shtml
Sorry it was 80 not 60%. This is not the exact same link but it is one the same topic.

 

[Sarah]

Hm...I don't think I could do much on that. I'm talking about a science project, not a research paper or current events. For a science project you have to have a question and you have to get a bunch of stuff to test things to get your answer. The example that my science teacher used is "What kind of mulch will make the soil the most acid?" and you would take several pots and put soil in them and put different mulch in each, and test the soil to see which is the most acid. The control would be one pot of soil with no mulch in it. So it has to be something to that effect, only with tarantulas~Sarah

 

[8leggedfreak]

I think you should do your project on the different types of tarantulas, like terrestrial vs arboreal. And then show the different types of burrows and webb funnels they build.
Your not going to get any of them to go through an obstacle course, at least not without stressing them out. And I wouldn't reccomend putting them in different types of environments either. Most T's generally have the same types of heat and moisture requirements.
And as far as intelligence goes "pet rock" is pretty accurate! Can you imagine if T's were intelligent? They'd rule the world!!!

 

[Code Monkey]

Actually, a better idea would be to use your obstacle course (but keep it very simple - maybe just a U shaped course) to test/demonstrate detection of prey in the Ts. What you would want to do is withhold food from the Ts for at least a week between trials. Then randomly select half for food present, the others without food. You have prey that's relatively non-mobile, maybe mealworms in a dish, or crickets in mesh cage (make sure that all the Ts in the study are used to eating whatever you use) at the end of the course for the food present Ts. Time how long it takes for Ts to reach the end. After an equivalent time of withholding food, repeat the experiment, but switch which Ts get food in the course and which ones don't. Repeat it for about 6 weeks such that each T has had 3 trials with food and 3 trials without.

If Ts can detect the prey in the course, their time to the end of it should be shorter on average when food is present versus when not.

The problem with your idea is there isn't any reason to assume that environment has anything to do with navigating a course so you can't make any conclusions without running a LOT of trials. Conversely, we know Ts like to eat and we know they'll travel a certain distance to do so. It's not rocket science, but it will make a good display at the science fair and is easily testable and demonstrable.

 

[nemesis6sic6]

hello

Temeprature, Since you said the project isn't due in a while.

I would say buy 4 or 5 Ts and put them on different temperatures.

(not at very high or very low temps)

I would also use different specimens for this.

then record the advancements and make conclution on the

appetite of the T and reactions to the enviroment.

that is just my idea, you can try something similar,

the truth is I'm tired :8o

any ways havea nice day

geo

 

[Steve Nunn]

Code's idea is indeed an excellent one. I have a scientific paper here regarding Lasiodora parahybana and it's methods of prey detection, I just have to dig it up and then I'll post some info on it. I think you'll find it should help you to get some direction.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[tarantulakeeper]

Is your project going into a science fair which will be judged? If so, then don't forget an easily answered hypothesis. The experiment doesn't have to prove the hypothesis true to be a good experiment. The hypothesis is your statement of what you believe will occur. For example: Hypoth: Tarantulas kept in 24 hour light will eat less than those kept in natural occuring day/night. Now, over a length of time it might be that 24 hours of light has no effect on appetite. Your experiment can prove or disprove your question. Also, I would recommend using all the same Ts changing only one element in the experiment. Otherwise you introduce other factors such as behavior. An usumbara and curly hair might react differently because they ARE different and you're only trying to test the effect of light. (or whatever you choose)

Temperature is a good thought but you would want the same Ts because you only want one thing to affect the growth. You'd have to have everything else the same, (ie, environment, feeding etc. only changing the temp)
Good luck!

John

 

[atavuss]

a few years ago I helped my son with his science project, we did it on how a tarantula grows. we had on display a bunch of molts from a tiny spiderling up to adult size and explained how they molt, how long it takes, how often, the size difference before and after, etc. we had lots of pictures of t's molting. I can say that there was not another science project like it in the entire school.

Ed

 

[Steve Nunn]

Hi Sarah,
If I can ask, how old are you?? See, I have this paper here from the XIII International Congress of Arachnology on L.parahybana. Here's a summary:

"How does the tarantula Lasiodora parahybana detect its prey? Wilfred BLEIN, Karine FAURIA and Yan HENAUT.

The various sensory channels involved in prey detection and attack were investigated in the tarantula Lasiodora parahybana Mello-Leitão 1917 (Araneae. Theraphosidae). Substrate vibrations appeared to be the most efficient. While vision and sound produced by the prey only provide additional information."

This is an interesting insight as to how a terrestrial tarantula detectes its prey incorporating graphs to show what percentage of attacks occured using sight, vibration and sound.

Arboreal tarantulas are known to have a larger eye group then the terrestrials and would probably show a marked increase in prey perception using visual stimulation. Martin Huber has excellent eye group comparison photographs that he may let you use. Rhys from the ATS has done a brief article on this very topic, which would be a huge benefit to you (I'm sure you could obtain a copy somewhere).

This is a topic which you could get right into and with the right help it could be a paper that could be properly published as a scientific article, I'll help where I can. On the other hand this may be a far bigger project then you are looking at and I've just gone on a big rant, but I don't know how old you are. Anyways, the same topic could be made a lot simpler without the scientific paper business, so hopefully this may be of some help.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[Sarah]

A tarantula detecting it's prey sounds pretty good. What would be my problem or question? I've been looking through the encyclopedias and the internet about tarantula and their prey, but so far, no luck.
I am 14, by the way, but I've been bumped up to 10th grade so I can be in the same grade as my brother.

 

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by Sarah
A tarantula detecting it's prey sounds pretty good. What would be my problem or question? I've been looking through the encyclopedias and the internet about tarantula and their prey, but so far, no luck.

What you are trying to answer is can these tarantulas detect the presence of prey when it's out of visual range and not in their immediate presence, and your hypothesis is that if they can they'll go through the course faster in pursuit of the prey. If you don't detect any difference in the time to navigate, then you can conclude that under the conditions you decide to keep the prey as attractant they can't detect the prey.

For instance, you could rig things such that the only possible stimulus would be the scent of the prey.

 

[Sarah]

Okay. And what would be my variable?

 

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by Sarah
Okay. And what would be my variable?

Your variable is time to reach the end of the course.

Picture a U shaped section of something like habitrail or even PVC (probably better but you can't see what's going on in it). You have an arena at both ends. Heck, you can probably even just use a straight section of PVC, like I said, it should be simple.

You introduce the T into the start end, give it a minute to acclimate, then open up your "start gate" (which if you've designed the course right allows it to possibly smell the prey at the end of the course) and start the clock. You make observations every minute or whatever you are up to doing. As soon as you observe the T in the end arena with the prey attractant, you stop the clock.

Bam, there's your variable: time to move from the start arena to the finishing arena.

You run this test over a number of weeks with the Ts and you will either be able to show significant difference between the times to the end when prey is present or you won't.

 

[8leggedfreak]

I see a slight problem with this though. Tarantulas don't hunt by scent, they don't have olfactory senses(no noses). They hunt by vibration. If you've got a T at one end of a tube or U shape tunnel it may not be able to sense the vibration of the prey at the other end.

 

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by 8leggedfreak
I see a slight problem with this though. Tarantulas don't hunt by scent, they don't have olfactory senses(no noses). They hunt by vibration. If you've got a T at one end of a tube or U shape tunnel it may not be able to sense the vibration of the prey at the other end.

No noses does not mean they can't smell, they have a number of specialized chemoreceptors, some of which are still not characterized. I'm not saying they can detect the prey chemically, but that's the point of doing the science fair project. Somehow I don't think that the science project directors are expecting a 10th grader to know how to do primary literature research (or even having access to primary literature).

 

[Steve Nunn]

Never know, it may show something other work hasn't in the past. Regarding the paper I mentioned, a negative result was reached using "smell". The researchers noted no response to smell. This is interesting because tarantulas are known carrion eaters, the only way they could possibly detect such prey is by use of chemoreceptors. Again, I think Code's idea is an excellent one, Sarah may be able to detect a variable between scent of the prey and prey vibartion. If she can, she will have acheived something not done before. If not, no harm done, it would be a valuable project I know I'd like to hear the results from.

Steve

 

[8leggedfreak]

Or maybe a contest between aggressive and non-aggressive T's.

See which one get's the food first!

Are T's really carrion eaters? I've never come across roadkill and found it covered with T's.:?