Dot Jot Brainstorming: #2

Essential Question: How do the tarantula’s anatomy of pedipalps and legs affect their senses, life cycle and how they walk compared to other organisms?


Foundation Question: How does the anatomy of pedipalps and legs  affect tarantulas life?
NOTES
(In own words; one line long)
SOURCES
(Author’s Last Name or “Full Article Title”)
Main Idea 1: Pedipalps and 8 legs

  • Has 8 legs & 2 pedipalps, pedipalps are different from the 8 others
    • All legs and pedipalps are on the cephalothorax
      • Not on abdomen & legs are vulnerable/sensitive
      • As much as the whole body of tarantula
      • Able to  grow back legs
      • All spiders can still walk w/ 3 legs
(“A Hobbyist’s Guide to Spiders”).
  • Pedipalps are not used like legs, they’re for sensing surroundings
    • Pedipalps are jointed down unlike the legs
(“Kentucky Spiders”).
  • All arachnids have pedipalps including scorpions
    • Scorpion pedipalps are just modified & smaller
(“Kentucky Spiders”).
  • Each leg has 7 different segments
    • Coxa, femur, trochanter, patella, tarsus, claws, metatarsus
    • Claws (sticky) help grip and grab
(Mitchell).
Main Idea 2: Senses

  • Tarantulas use pedipalps to encounter and feel the ground
    • Tarantulas have poor eyesight so they use it to an advantage
(“Kentucky Spiders”).
  • Legs sense vibrations sensitivity to know where something’s moving
    • Helps find prey and predators to know where to go
(“Kentucky Spiders”).
  • Pedipalps are like the antenna for the spider, they help navigate
    • Helps navigate motion
(“A Hobbyist’s Guide to Spiders”).
  • Legs search the ground as well as pedipalps in vibration
    • Similar to bats - poor eyesight but great vibrations
(“A Hobbyist’s Guide to Spiders”).
Main Idea 3: Life Cycle

  • In males, the pedipalps get filled up with sperm
    • Once it’s filled, they start travelling in search for a female
    • Male’s pedipalps are larger than females because of this
    • During courtship, the male tarantulas shake the ends
      • To seduce & “hypnotize” the female
(“A Hobbyist’s Guide to Spiders”).
  • Helps hunt & digest the food by tossing the insect over
    • Turns it over to not pierce the shell of bug & turn vulnerable
(“A Hobbyist’s Guide to Spiders”).
  • Pedipalps also help shape spider webs to create traps
    • Traps for tarantulas make webs between leaves/grass
    • Traps usually for insects & vibrations let them know where
(“A Hobbyist’s Guide to Spiders”).
  • Pedipalps are also used for male’s protection during mating
    • Without the pedipalps the female would attack the male
    • Pedipalps hold the female’s fangs to avoid certain death
(Frank Starmer, “Spider Stuff,
Molecular style”).
DIRECT QUOTE: “A pair of appendages called pedipalps, which perform a similar role as an insect’s antennae,
are attached to the front part of the spider’s head. In addition to serving as taste and smell organs, palps in
male individuals are also used to transfer sperm during mating.” (“Kentucky Spiders”).
PRIMARY SOURCE: SHows diagram of spider including the pedipalps and legs, the legs are labeled into sections
to inform the specific ideas on how they walk in joints.

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