| MadSci Network: Zoology |
Dear Ashley, Hmm...now you've got me wondering if spiders' motor skills are influenced by alcohol like humans' are. Truth is, while it's an interesting question, I think you're having trouble finding information on this subject for a few reasons. One possible reason you haven't found information on this topic is that spiders probably don't run across much alcohol in the wild, so scientists might not have much chance to make observations about this type of behavior in nature. Another possibility is that you're the first to test the hypothesis that alcohol influences spiders' web-spinning functions. If so, you're the expert, and you may have to test different ways to get spiders to ingest alcohol and wait for them to start spinning. Your experiment might be considered cruel, if the spiders just can't handle alcohol and don't survive the process to spin a web. That's just speculation on my part, but it's a distinct possibility. You might need to really water down the alcohol first and then add more bit by bit to see what concentration of alcohol they can survive. This will take a little while, and some careful observations, but it'll be easier on the spiders. Then, once you've determined how much alcohol they can handle (if any), you can start watching their behavior while spinning webs. If you want to continue with this project, I'd suggest visiting spider care Web sites to see how they provide liquids to spiders in captivity. I know for tarantulas, pet owners provide soaked cotton in a dish, so the spiders don't drown while drinking. I'll include some spider care sites at the end of this message, in case you'd like to read more. As for types of alcohol, I have no idea if spiders prefer whisky or wine or something entirely different. Since I don't know anything about how (or if) spiders "taste" (show a preference for sweet or salty and so on), I would just say don't waste anything too expensive, and steer clear of beer as the carbonation can't be good for the poor things. Without knowing the species or at least size range of spider you're working with, I can't begin to recommend amounts of liquids or delivery methods. To be honest, I would recommend you ask a question about some other aspect of their behavior that doesn't run the risk of poisoning your subjects. There are lots of interesting questions out there that might be a bit kinder from the spider health perspective. I wonder how they respond to colors, or if they do? Do they respond to music? Good luck with your exploring, and keep asking questions. Ruth ___________________________________________________________________ Here are some sites to check out for spider information: THE ARACHNOLOGY HOME PAGE (tons of resources) http://www.ufsia.ac.be/Arachnology/Arachnology.html THE SPIDER WEBRING http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=spider;list
Try the links in the MadSci Library for more information on Zoology.