Analysis of the Correlation between Measurements of the Lengths and Widths of the Abdomen, Hairpin, Major Ampullate Glands, and Prosoma in Latrodectus hesperus
Poster Number
11
Format
Poster Presentation
Abstract/Artist Statement
The purpose of this project was to find out whether there was a correlation between the lengths and widths of various regions of the spider, mainly the prosoma, abdomen, and major ampullate silk glands. The experiment involved catching, caring for, dissecting, and measuring parts of several black widow spiders of a wide variety of sizes and ages. The main part of the experiment, the dissection, was done with a special microscope specific for micro-dissection. A poster presentation on this will explain methods used and the results obtained. So far, we have not managed to gather enough data for a conclusive evidence to confirm the hypothesis that the ampullate sizes are correlated with the sizes of the spiders’ abdomens and prosomas. The data we have taken so far has not been conclusive because we have been unable to gather enough samples of both males and juveniles, thus our results could easily be skewed in one direction. The data that we obtained may be significant to understanding geometry and the variations in sizes that we see.Slope values: L Prosoma vs. L Major Ampullate: 0.229027 L Prosoma vs. W Major Ampullate: 0.241414 L Prosoma vs. L Hairpin: 0.465052 L Abdomen vs. L Major Ampullate: 0.533068 L Abdomen vs. W Major Ampullate: 0.27168 L Abdomen vs. L Hairpin: 0.449004 W Abdomen vs. L Major Ampullate: 0.189055 W Abdomen vs. W Major Ampullate: 0.120221 W Abdomen vs. L Hairpin: 0.128976 L Major Ampullate vs. L Hairpin: 0.535583 W Major Ampullate vs. L Hairpin: 0.326095
Location
Pacific Geosciences Center
Start Date
5-5-2007 1:00 PM
End Date
5-5-2007 3:00 PM
Analysis of the Correlation between Measurements of the Lengths and Widths of the Abdomen, Hairpin, Major Ampullate Glands, and Prosoma in Latrodectus hesperus
Pacific Geosciences Center
The purpose of this project was to find out whether there was a correlation between the lengths and widths of various regions of the spider, mainly the prosoma, abdomen, and major ampullate silk glands. The experiment involved catching, caring for, dissecting, and measuring parts of several black widow spiders of a wide variety of sizes and ages. The main part of the experiment, the dissection, was done with a special microscope specific for micro-dissection. A poster presentation on this will explain methods used and the results obtained. So far, we have not managed to gather enough data for a conclusive evidence to confirm the hypothesis that the ampullate sizes are correlated with the sizes of the spiders’ abdomens and prosomas. The data we have taken so far has not been conclusive because we have been unable to gather enough samples of both males and juveniles, thus our results could easily be skewed in one direction. The data that we obtained may be significant to understanding geometry and the variations in sizes that we see.Slope values: L Prosoma vs. L Major Ampullate: 0.229027 L Prosoma vs. W Major Ampullate: 0.241414 L Prosoma vs. L Hairpin: 0.465052 L Abdomen vs. L Major Ampullate: 0.533068 L Abdomen vs. W Major Ampullate: 0.27168 L Abdomen vs. L Hairpin: 0.449004 W Abdomen vs. L Major Ampullate: 0.189055 W Abdomen vs. W Major Ampullate: 0.120221 W Abdomen vs. L Hairpin: 0.128976 L Major Ampullate vs. L Hairpin: 0.535583 W Major Ampullate vs. L Hairpin: 0.326095