Biology Forum Zoology Discussion spider question

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    • #5058
      Juan Barbaroja
      Participant

      If I put my hand before a spider rushing across a table, the spider will usually stop, plot a new course plot a new course it hopes to be hand free, and carry on. What is the sense(s) is the spider using to get away from my hand. A visiual impression must play a role since spiders seem to do this to a lesser extent with other objects (a piece of paper for instance) but I wonder if something like smell is involved also.

      Thank you.
      JB

    • #50237
      Khaiy
      Participant

      Spiders have very fine hairs, which (I believe) pick up on even tiny shifts in air currents, which alert them to motions that occur aroudn them very quickly.

      P.S. I’m glad to be back, now that my login is finally being accepted again. Hopefully I’ll be able to become a regular again.

    • #50327
      Darby
      Participant

      Most spiders in this position (in the open, in the light, moving) will be depending on their eyesight, since you’re more than likely dealing with a free-roaming daylight predator. If you pulled a spider out of an orb web and put it on the table, it wouldn’t react the same way.

    • #50353
      Juan Barbaroja
      Participant
      quote Darby:

      Most spiders in this position (in the open, in the light, moving) will be depending on their eyesight, since you’re more than likely dealing with a free-roaming daylight predator. If you pulled a spider out of an orb web and put it on the table, it wouldn’t react the same way.

      Terriffic! Thanks for that! Yet now I wonder what the differences would be. Having failed to find potential candidates for experimentation, I’ve reentered my house in defeat, bearing only my flashlight. Would the nocturnal hunter crawl right over my hand or do you suppose heat and/ or vibrations as Khaiy suggests might tip her off?

      Thanks,
      Juan

    • #50550
      123Herpatology
      Participant

      haha, i’ve got a funny story that sounds like that, but my expirement gave me another conclusion. I was watching a specimen one day, and it was moving along my kitchen counter. Having done the "place the hand on the table" maneuver before , i assumed he would act accordingly…This time however, the spider proceeded directly to my hand, placed two legs onto my finger and whammo, sunk its fangs in and took off…despite the pain, it was quote humourous.

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