Meeting Abstract
Here, I describe a new laboratory exercise designed for an undergraduate comparative animal physiology course. Students measure the burst performance of wolf spiders (Lycosidae) held at three different temperatures (5°, 21°, and 35°C) in order to determine how temperature affects ectothermic performance. We use 1m sections of plastic gutter lined with pea gravel and covered in tulle as spider ‘runways.’ Students encourage the spiders to run by blowing on them, simulating a predation attempt. Each group of students then calculates burst performance from distance run and time taken for six different wolf spiders at all three temperatures in a randomized blocked design. Afterwards, the students perform an ANOVA with Bonferroni-corrected follow-up T-tests and find that burst performance increases considerably between 5 and 21°C, but not between 21 and 35°C: the enzymes involved in ectothermic escape responses are temperature-dependent, but not as temperature-dependent as enzymes involved in behavioral responses less closely correlated with survival. This inquiry-based laboratory exercise allows students to directly observe the effects of temperature on ectotherms and gives them the opportunity to interact with live animals, which may or may not cooperate with the experiment or behave according to the students’ hypotheses and predictions. As a result, the experiment represents both a valuable and an enjoyable learning experience (even for arachnophobes!).
