In Brief
TARANTULAS AS TEACHING TOOLS Two of the most frightening things known to humans—advanced math and tarantulas—are some of Dr. D.J. Galiffa’s favorite things. The associate professor of mathematics owns thirteen tarantulas and says the highly venomous spiders make great pets. “They are one of the cleanest and most fascinating animals,” Galiffa said, as his Honduran curlyhair “Curly”, a thirteen-year-old tarantula about the size of his palm, slowly walked over and around his hand. “Each spider has a unique personality.” Rosalinda, a Chilean rose, was his first tarantula. Galiffa acquired her eight years ago and liked her so much that he has since gathered twelve more tarantulas, for a total of thirteen spiders of twelve different species, including cobalt blue, greenbottle blue, Venezuelan sun tiger, Costa Rican zebra, Chilean copper, Mexican red knee, Arizona blonde, Brazilian salmon pink, Columbian giant red leg, and Mexican red rump. We talked with Galiffa to learn more about tarantulas and how they can sometimes serve as teaching aids.
WHAT IS APPEALING TO YOU ABOUT TARANTULAS?
They make great pets. They are clean, quiet, easy to care for, and they all have their own personalities. It is an exciting challenge to try and understand a species that is so far removed from humans. They communicate with their actions and behaviors.
WHAT DO THEY EAT?
Worms, crickets, roaches. Basically, they eat anything alive that is smaller than they are. They only eat a few times a month.
WHAT DO YOU TEACH WITH YOUR TARANTULAS?
There are many things we can teach with spiders—web strength and construction, genetics, population dynamics, gait analysis, and blood flow, which is quite fascinating in tarantulas 4
since their blood flows through their entire body. They don’t have veins like humans do.
HOW CAN YOU USE THEM TO TEACH MATH MODELING?
We can model them as predators and as prey. We can also study the genetic probability of obtaining certain variations of a given species using probabilistic models. For example, there are three forms of Chilean rose tarantulas—the gray, red, and pink color forms. My spider, Rosalinda, is gray form and Charlotte is a red form. The students in my workshops do a basic version of this very type of modeling and then get to see the differences in the color forms in my actual tarantulas.
TARANTULA TIDBITS • They have eight eyes, but scientists are not sure how well they see. • They have bristles, not hair, that give them a lot of information about what is happening around them. • At the end of each of a tarantula’s eight legs are two retractable claws, similar to those in a cat, that they use for mobility. • Since tarantulas are arthropods, they must molt in order to grow. When they molt, they often change color and grow exceedingly large.
Learn more about Dr. Galiffa’s tarantulas at behrendblog.com.
