Faculty Sponsor
Amiee Dunlap
Final Abstract for URS Program
Animals use vision to perceive light, shapes, colors, and movement. Many animals that have poor vision are understudied. The purpose of this experiment was to study color vision in tarantulas (Brachypelma hamorii). Researchers have found genes associated with color vision tarantulas, but no behavioral experiments have been done on this topic. Previous research has also shown that tarantulas can see polarized light. In this experiment, we wanted to know if tarantulas could use visual cues to move away from a noxious stimulus - vibration. There were twelve tarantulas being tested in this experiment for between twelve and fifteen trials. Once the twelve tarantulas were selected, they were tested to see if they could associate black and white with escaping vibration. The test used a choice chamber where the tarantula could choose to go right or left to avoid the vibration. Each side of the camber was marked with either black or white paper above the entrance. We applied gentle vibration to the abdomen of the spider and removed it when they entered the correct side of the chamber. When the tarantula made the wrong choice, we continued to apply vibration until the tarantula made the correct choice. We measured learning by measuring how many trials it took before the tarantulas could consistently pick the correct color on their first try. We found that the tarantulas learned the correct color choice after a certain number of trials. Therefore, tarantulas can likely see black and white, but we are not sure if they can see chromatic colors. This procedure will allow us to see if tarantulas are able to use color cues to learn to avoid a noxious stimulus. The next step in this experiment is to introduce other colors to the tarantulas. This experiment is important because it can help us understand more about invertebrates and how they can see color.
Presentation Type
Visual Presentation
Document Type
Article