20th International Congress of Arachnology

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114 DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE REPORTS | No. 3, July 2, 2016
Cushing
Oral presentation
Jumping spiders as a model for attention:
integration of novel techniques for eye-
tracking and neural recording in the brain
Elizabeth Jakob1, Skye Long1,2, Duane Harland3, Robert
Jackson3,4, Gil Menda5, Ronald Hoy 5
1Department of Psychological and Behavioral Sciences,
UMass Amherst, Amherst MA 01003 USA; 2Department of
Neuroscience, University of Arizona, Tucson AZ 85721,
USA; 3 AgResearch, New Zealand School of Biological
Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800,
Christchurch, New Zealand; 4ICIPE, Mbita Point, Kenya;
5Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell
University, Ithaca NY 14853, USA
Jumping spiders use their small brains to integrate infor-
mation from eight different eyes. Of these, one pair, the
principal eyes, have retinae that move around to examine
the visual field, whereas the other three pairs of eyes
are non-moving. We present results from two unusual
approaches to studying jumping spider perception. First,
our eye-tracker enables us to record retinal position as
a spider explores video images. Second, we are able to
simultaneously record from the arcuate body region of the
brain as the spider observes video stimuli. We will present
the first data in which we record both retinal position and
arcuate body firing from spiders as they observe different
stimuli. We argue that we now have a powerful new model
for the study of visual attention in invertebrates.
Keywords: salticids, gaze direction, attention, brain
recordings, eyetracking
Poster presentation
Sampling terrestrial spiders: evaluation
of sampling protocols and presentation of
alternative methods
Felipe E. C. Jaques1, Marco A. Ribeiro-Júnior2 , Erika L. S.
Costa3 , Nancy F. Lo-Man-Hung4, Jerriane O. Gomes5
1 Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade
do Vale do Sapucaí, Av. Prefeito Tuany Toledo 470,
Fátima, 37.550-000, Pouso Alegre, MG, Brasil;
2Independent researcher, Rua Barbara Augusta Garcia,
65, Colinas de Santa Bárbara, 37550-000, Pouso
Alegre, MG, Brasil; 3Programa de Pós-Graduação em
Zoologia UFPA-MPEG, Av. Perimetral 1901, CP 399,
66017-970, Belém, PA, Brasil; 4 Independent researcher,
Avenida do Contorno, 2250, apto 208, Floresta,
30110-012, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil; 5A &
L Engenharia e Serviços Ltda; Rua Jatobá, 15, Chácara
da Lua, 68515-000, Parauapebas, Pará, Brasil
The arthropod pitfall trap is the capture technique
most commonly used in sampling spiders. However, this
technique is not always used in long-term sampling, and
consequently, the component in which the diversity of
terrestrial spiders is studied is not performed. Our study
presents an alternative sampling technique for terres-
trial spiders (pitfall traps with drift fences; PTDF), and
compares the species richness, relative abundance, and
community structure perceived between this technique
and the specific traps widely used for terrestrial spiders
(pitfall traps; PT), and between the different designs,
buckets sizes, and spatial parameters widely used for
PTDF. Based on a great sampling effort in the Caxiuanã
National Forest, Brazilian Amazonia, our results evi-
dences similar species richness obtained by PTDF and PT,
as well as patterns of species abundance and community
structure. Among the different PTDF tested by us, both
line and Y designs and buckets size (35l, 62l and 100l)
did not influence the effectiveness of the sampling tech-
nique, with similar species richness, relative abundance,
and community structure perceived by them. However,
there was a complementarity in the spatial parameters
analyzed, evidenced by the species abundance and com-
munity structure patterns perceived by the traps installed
widely in the region, and by them installed concentrated
in one area. Finally, the efficiency of the PTDF as sam-
pling technique and component of the terrestrial spider
protocol is evidenced, and this technique is considered by
us as a complementary and/or alternative way to sam-
pling terrestrial spiders in Amazonia.
Keywords: pitfall traps with drift fences, sampling
protocols