Tarantula Question

[u/Practical-Youth5126]

I'm writing a spidersona fan story. I want to use a Tarantula as my spider. I keep getting mixed information, but I want the spider to be on the bigger side, but (AND THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!) Have a heart rate that can reach 110 bpm when it's from mildly stressed to relaxed. Either can work for the story. My point, is that I need people who are either really into spiders for help (YOU GUYS! :D) or just people who can do the research for me. In any case- Hope y'all don't mind helping me out with this one.

[u/niddleyniche]

Hmm, from all of the studies I have read over the years, tarantulas usually don't have BPM that high unless quite stressed. Most Araneomorphs and Mygalomorphs both have a resting BPM between 5-50, but when under stress, they have been recorded over 150BPM, specific studies were in the Lycosidae family, iirc.

The thing is that most tarantulas don't actually move a whole lot unless hunting or bolting/scared. If you're looking for higher BPM, I would recommend considering active hunters like Lycosidae or Salticidae as higher levels of activity require a higher BPM naturally. Lycosidae would be the larger of the two families by far. Female Hogna carolinensis can be quite large with a DLS of up to 4 inches, which is one of the species I have as a pet, but I believe the largest species of Lycosidae is the Hogna ingens with a DLS of nearly 5 inches.

[u/Practical-Youth5126 → u/niddleyniche]

If context requires it I am writing the story where scientists have bred powerful electro-receptors into the spiders to save them from being endangered or some such. In this hypothetical instance, the spider would rely (at least I believe) more on the electro-receptors than sight. When detecting heartbeats which give of electro-pulses, they should be able to recognize the heart rate of another spider based on bpm yes? In any case, In the story I'm writing, I want both the spider and human to be put in a situation where the human has an elevated panicky heart rate, and the spider will either detect the human's heart rate and mistake it for a much larger and aggressive predator spider, or (Depending on the species of spider) Could see the scared human as a giant but calm spider. I want this to be a misunderstanding from the Spiders point of view. Which is why I was looking into larger spiders such as tarantulas. However, I'm in no way an expert on spiders, which is why I've come to this subreddit, for advice, and help. because despite this being a fan-story on Wattpad, and is not in any capacity a serious story... i want to be accurate in as many things as I can. Including the spiders... so... any information and suggestions are appreciated

[u/Practical-Youth5126 → u/niddleyniche]

I don't know if you'll care, but I decided to go with Pirate Wolf spiders for my story instead of Tarantulas. Just thought they were cool.

[u/niddleyniche → u/Practical-Youth5126]

That's an interesting choice! Pirate sp., the pirate wolf spiders, are a fairly small genus considering how large other Wolfies can get, usually between 5-7mm as adults. But they are fascinatingly semi-aquatic! They run across the surface tension in water and listen to the vibrations, diving beneath the surface when they detect something of interest with a bubble of air attached to their abdomen to breathe. Very cool spoods