Resting and diel respiration rates for the burrowing wolf spider Geolycosa domifex (Hancock)

Abstract

Respiration rates were measured for the burrowing wolf spider Geolycosa domifex (Hancock) during 1977 and 1978. Most experiments were run for at least 24 h and respiration rates (micro-litres CO2 per hour) and activity were monitored continuously. Experiments were conducted at 14.5, 18, and 22 °C, and it was found that respiration (R) was related to both weight (W) (R = aWb) and temperature. A brief model relating respiration, weight, and temperature was compared with independently collected data (1978) fur animals exposed to 20 °C. The expected and observed mean respiration rates were not different (α = 0.05) but the slopes (b) were different (α = 0.05}. The diel respiration patterns suggested that there was a significant amount of variation between animals, but that the highest respiration patterns always occurred during the dark. The respiration rates recorded for G. domifex were lower than those found for other species. This was due to the fact that activity monitoring allowed resting respiration data to be collected exactly when the spider was resting. The data also showed that active respiration rates were several times higher than resting rates, and that active rates will be very important to the development of a complete respiration model.