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Phenotypic consequences of incubation temperature and feeding regimen in captive‐bred tarantulas
Author(s) -
Reichling Steven B.,
Gutzke William H. N.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
zoo biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.5
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1098-2361
pISSN - 0733-3188
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1098-2361(1998)17:5<405::aid-zoo5>3.0.co;2-6
Subject(s) - biology , incubation , juvenile , zoology , regimen , incubation period , egg incubation , medicine , ecology , biochemistry
Eighteen oothecae of the African selenocosmiine spider Pterinochilus murinus were incubated at 22.5, 27.0, or 31.5°C. Neonates were reared under high or low feeding regimens. Potential influences of incubation temperature on incubation period, secondary sex ratio, egg inviability, embryo mortality, and juvenile mass at eclosion were examined using chi‐square analysis and analysis of covariance. Potential direct and interactive effects of the temperature of incubation and feeding regimen on juvenile mortality, mass at 35 weeks, and duration of immature/mature life span and body mass/size in males were tested using multivariate analysis of covariance. Secondary sex ratio did not depart from parity within any experimental treatment. The strikingly small mass of spiders reared under the low feeding regimen was unaffected by incubation temperature and was equivalent between the sexes. Under the high feeding regimen, females in the 22.5 and 31.5°C incubation treatments had surpassed the mass of their male counterparts by week 35, but male and female mass was equivalent at 27.0°C. The most massive high‐fed females were produced from the 31.5°C incubation temperature, while high‐fed males were largest from 27.0°C, which also produced mature males of the greatest mass and body size. Captive‐management implications are discussed. Zoo Biol 17:405–414, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.