A Spider With a Knack for Geometry

April 21, 2017 11:56 AM

Tarantulas measure distance with their lateral eyes The species doesn't retrace its steps. Instead, it calculates its two-dimensional movements as if they were the sides of a right-angle triangle. The hypotenuse of the hypothetical triangle guides the spider home.
posted by Michele in California (9 comments total)

Neat link, neat spiders, but it looks like they got a little confused by the Tarantula in the name.
posted by Naib at 12:20 PM on April 21, 2017

Misleading article and title. The study is called Role of the different eyes in the visual odometry in the wolf spider Lycosa tarantula (Araneae, Lycosidae).
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 12:43 PM on April 21, 2017 [1 favorite]

>When researchers covered the lateral eyes with water soluble paint,

Science is weird.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 12:57 PM on April 21, 2017

>When researchers covered the lateral eyes with water soluble paint,

Science is weird.

I just wish my optometrist would warn me before doing this.
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:08 PM on April 21, 2017 [3 favorites]

And then, presumably, hosed down again to wash it off.
posted by Michele in California at 1:30 PM on April 21, 2017 [1 favorite]

In an alternate universe, Norm Abrams is bitten by one of those spiders and never has to say "measure twice, cut once".
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:24 PM on April 21, 2017 [4 favorites]

You left out the part where the spider that bit him was radioactive.
posted by Michele in California at 2:30 PM on April 21, 2017

It is common to see a shimmering iridescence of blue, green, and red in the headlights as you drive in S. AZ this time of year. The reflecting eyes of wolf spiders are like small disco balls in the road. Which is how I learned to do The Hustle.
posted by Flippervault at 9:43 PM on April 21, 2017 [1 favorite]

Something something Spiders Georg.
posted by Pyrogenesis at 6:14 AM on April 22, 2017