Abstract
ABSTRACT. Cupiennius salei Keys., a lycosid spider, is night‐active in its natural habitat in the highlands of Guatemala. Locomotor activity begins at dusk after several transitional states, each of which is correlated with a particular light level. Actograph measurements in controlled conditions (LD 12:12 or reversed cycles) show that the spiders begin walking immediately after dark. The activity maximum is reached within the first 3 h of the scotophase (though some spiders displayed additional lights‐on activity in the first hour of the photophase). In DD, Cupiennius shows an endogenous activity rhythm with a mean period of 24.9 h (± 0.31, SE); typically during the first four to six cycles in DD the rhythm ‘splits’ into two components running at different frequencies. In LL (26 1x) the walking activity became arrhythmic. The results are discussed with reference to field and laboratory observations of Cupiennius behaviour and to the consequences for future physiological research with this species.
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