Quantcast
ZME Science
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
    Menu
    Natural Sciences
    Health
    History & Humanities
    Space & Astronomy
    Technology
    Culture
    Resources
    Natural Sciences

    Physics

    • Matter and Energy
    • Quantum Mechanics
    • Thermodynamics

    Chemistry

    • Periodic Table
    • Applied Chemistry
    • Materials
    • Physical Chemistry

    Biology

    • Anatomy
    • Biochemistry
    • Ecology
    • Genetics
    • Microbiology
    • Plants and Fungi

    Geology and Paleontology

    • Planet Earth
    • Earth Dynamics
    • Rocks and Minerals
    • Volcanoes
    • Dinosaurs
    • Fossils

    Animals

    • Mammals
    • Birds
    • Fish
    • Reptiles
    • Amphibians
    • Invertebrates
    • Pets
    • Conservation
    • Animals Facts

    Climate and Weather

    • Climate Change
    • Weather and Atmosphere

    Geography

    Mathematics

    Health
    • Drugs
    • Diseases and Conditions
    • Human Body
    • Mind and Brain
    • Food and Nutrition
    • Wellness
    History & Humanities
    • Anthropology
    • Archaeology
    • Economics
    • History
    • People
    • Sociology
    Space & Astronomy
    • The Solar System
    • The Sun
    • The Moon
    • Planets
    • Asteroids, Meteors and Comets
    • Astronomy
    • Astrophysics
    • Cosmology
    • Exoplanets and Alien Life
    • Spaceflight and Exploration
    Technology
    • Computer Science & IT
    • Engineering
    • Inventions
    • Sustainability
    • Renewable Energy
    • Green Living
    Culture
    • Culture and Society
    • Bizarre Stories
    • Lifestyle
    • Art and Music
    • Gaming
    • Books
    • Movies and Shows
    Resources
    • How To
    • Science Careers
    • Metascience
    • Fringe Science
    • Science Experiments
    • School and Study
    • Natural Sciences
    • Health
    • History and Humanities
    • Space & Astronomy
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Resources
  • Reviews
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics
    • Geology
    • History
    • Mathematics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Economics
    • Paleontology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Robotics
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Other → Videos

Spiders are just like cats: they too like chasing laser pointers

It's better than Batman.

Mihai Andrei by Mihai Andrei
April 20, 2023
in Biology, News, Videos

Spiders get a lot of bad rep, and most of it is completely unwarranted. After all, they’re much more like pets than we’d care to consider. They’re small and fluffy most of the time, and like a guard dog, they keep intruders out of your house — intruders, in this case, being unwanted insects. As it turns out, they have something in common with cats too: they love chasing laser pointers!

.OK people we have footage. Zebra spider, office wall, green laser pointer (interest level: "OMG GIVE IT TO MEEEE") pic.twitter.com/EezkY0zRkr

— Prof. Emily Levesque 🤓✨🔭📚 (@emsque) June 5, 2017

I could watch this on repeat for hours.

We have scientists on Twitter to thank for this discovery, which as it turns out, was common knowledge for some (completely new to me though).

It all started with Jamie Lomax, an astronomer from the University of Washington. Lomax spends most of her work time looking at massive objects far outside our solar system, but one time, she found herself interrupted by something much smaller, and much closer.

The sudden appearance of a jumping spider on my laptop is a good way to stop my workflow.

— Jamie R Lomax (@jrlomax) May 31, 2017

Like many other people, she didn’t really like the new presence in her office and she took to Twitter to express it.

“I’m not scared of spiders but if someone else wants to take care of the spider in a room, I’ll gladly let them do it over me. And I don’t really want them raining down on my head,” she told The Atlantic.

She identified the species as a zebra jumping spider, a common jumping spider of the Northern Hemisphere. Like other jumping spiders, it does not build a web, instead relying on its eight large, keen eyes to scout prey. Zebra spiders are rather unusual in that they have often been noted for noticing human presence and reacting to it. You could see them lifting their head towards you and behaving completely different afterward.

But for Lomax, the problem was that there were plenty of tiny spiders around, and not much to do about it (by the time a university exterminator came, they were gone, indicating that a nest had probably hatched and the spiderlings had scoured in the meantime). But someone had a different idea of dealing with the spiders: laser.

No, no, I don’t mean “nuking” the spiders with lasers, I mean using lasers to distract them and direct them in the direction you want. It all happened when fellow astronomer Alex Parker chipped in.

 “Have you tried lasers?” he replied. “Seriously though, some jumping spiders will chase laser pointers like cats do.”

You could almost imagine Lomax sitting in her office, reading the tweet and going “Woaw.”

By this point, Emily Levesque — Lomax’s colleague, with an office two doors down — joined in. She tried the same thing using a red laser pointer, but the spider seemed much more attracted to the green one.

Same spider, same wall, red laser pointer (interest level: "feh. I guess I'll check this thing out.") pic.twitter.com/JWM8cxw2Jw

— Prof. Emily Levesque 🤓✨🔭📚 (@emsque) June 5, 2017

Now, they were really intrigued. What makes spiders first attracted to laser pointers, and second, more attracted to green lasers than red lasers?

“Do all zebra spiders react more to green vs red laser pointers?” Levesque tweeted. “We need some kind of ‘science Twitter’ bat signal that we can put up when different fields need input from one another.”

But on the internet, you don’t need a bat signal, and Twitter worked its magic once more. Spider researcher Catherine Scott saw the thread and looped in her friend Nate Morehouse, who specializes in spider vision at the University of Cincinnati. It was pretty late at the time, but Morehouse was up watching the Stanley Cup (ice hockey). He was upset to see his favorite team, Pittsburgh Penguins, losing to the Nashville Predators, so he randomly checked his Twitter to see if something was up.

“I was all bummed out, and I decided to check Twitter before I went to bed,” he says. “I had like 150 notifications.”

Like a true science Batman, he swooped in and explained the whole thing. It’s all about the spiders’ eyes, Morehouse explained. Their retinas contain two type of light-detecting cells: one sensitive to green light, and another sensitive to ultraviolet. They can also see red light, but they probably see it as a fainter shape of green rather than a new color. Since they rely on vision to find prey and they have to act fast, it makes a lot of sense for the spiders to chase the pointers.

As it turns out, you can find lots of similar clips on the internet.

But if you have to appreciate the power of the internet. Late night, a Cincinnati biologist heard the call of two Washington astronomers who were using laser pointers to play with spiders. He explained the thing to the entire world, and now you’re reading about it from wherever you may be. I don’t know about you, but that sounds better than Batman to me.

Was this helpful?


Thanks for your feedback!

Related posts:
  1. Protesters in Chile bring down police drones using simple laser pointers. Lots and lots of laser pointers
  2. Chasing ice: the largest glacier calve captured on film
  3. Animal Files – Sand Cats: The only Cats That Live in the Desert
  4. Biologists discover 18 new species of spiders — and they look just like pelicans
  5. Seen more spiders lately? That’s because they’re no longer afraid of the light, researchers say
Tags: laserspidertwitterzebra spider

ADVERTISEMENT
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • Reviews
  • More
  • About Us

© 2007-2021 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Health
    • History and Humanities
    • Space & Astronomy
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Resources
  • Reviews
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics
    • Geology
    • History
    • Mathematics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Economics
    • Paleontology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Robotics
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2021 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

Don’t you want to get smarter every day?

YES, sign me up!

Over 35,000 subscribers can’t be wrong. Don’t worry, we never spam. By signing up you agree to our privacy policy.

✕
ZME Science News

FREE
VIEW