I saw two tarantulas today during my run! They were small and were not moving very fast, but they were out. Thanks to Eric L. and Steve H. who are still out biking and sending in files. Eric saw two tarantulas on Saturday (12 Nov 2022). Steve went out a little later in the day and unfortunately didn’t see any. I’ll be out of town starting tomorrow – so I welcome any data you can send.
Thank you
I have just updated the tarantula location map and added a heat map – which shows where we have seen the most tarantulas. Keep on sending in files and don’t give up before the tarantulas do – they are still out looking for love, I just saw two today (10/30/2022)!
I was out of town in Las Vegas this past week and went on a couple of mountain bike rides 20 mi west of Las Vegas on the Blue Diamond trails (Late Night Trailhead) and saw a couple desert tarantulas Aphonopelma iodius. These are related to the hairy red tarantula Aphomopelma marxi that we see in Flagstaff. The males of the desert tarantula also go out looking for love in the fall. Both images in this post are desert tarantulas.
Although we just had a cold spell, tarantulas are still out and about. Last year the last tarantula of the season was in mid November! So keep looking for tarantulas on your bike rides and continue sending me the files. Thanks to everyone who sent in data over the past week, Bill S. , Eric L. and Steve H . It is much appreciated! Keep up the good work, and have a good week.
Thanks to everyone who have sent in their cycling data. Remember, even if you don’t see any tarantulas please send me your data file. Check out the webpage or contact me if you have any questions.
I will be out of town and will not be able to get my usual midweek ride in on Wednesday. So, I would really appreciate any weekday rides that you might go on this week as well as the next couple of weeks as I will be traveling for work and will not be able to bike as much as I usually do.
Thanks everyone and happy cycling!
Holy tarantulas Batman! A new record was set yesterday. I saw 38 live tarantulas crossing the road yesterday. I rode from my house around Mormon Lake and back (56 mi). Can you beat my record? Get out there and keep your eyes peeled to the road – don’t forget to scan both sides of the road. Happy hunting.
I would also like to thank Bryce B. for a fun ride – and for his first submission of data to the tarantula project. I am looking forward to more data from Bryce and others, keep up the good work everyone.
Thanks!
Thanks and a shout out to Bob P. and Steve H. for sending in data, and to Camille B. for her second year of participating in the Cycle for Science – Lake Mary Tarantula Project.
Don’t forget to send in your ride data even if you didn’t see a tarantula. To know why tarantulas are out and about, I also need to know when they are not out and about. This helps in determining if their appearance is related to weather factors, such as temperature, humidity, wind, etc…
Thanks to all that have sent me data, I am still awaiting ride data from some of you that I met and talked to October 1.
Greetings,
I was at the corner of Lake Mary Road and Powell Blvd this morning from 9:00 to 10:30 trying to recruit new citizen scientists for the Lake Mary tarantula project – Cycle for Science. I made a few contacts and I hope you send me your GPS files, even if you did not see any tarantulas. I also just posted a short video on how to export a file from Garmin Connect. Please let me know if you have any questions on the tarantula project, how to export or how to send me a KML or TCX file. Thank you!
I saw two tarantulas yesterday (Sunday 18 September 2022) on Lake Mary road. This is about a week or two earlier than the last two years!
This is the start of the 3rd season of the citizen science Lake Mary tarantula project – cycle for science. I am asking folks that bicycle Lake Mary Road in Flagstaff to track their trips and mark their GPS unit when they see a tarantula. Then send the GPX or KLM (or whatever format you use) file to me.
We are trying to determine what drives the fall migration of male tarantulas. Well, mating is the driver – but we want to know what triggers the migration, temperature, day length, etc., and what habitats are associated with higher abundance of tarantulas.
Check out the webpage for more information and how to participate.
Pilar’s manuscript was recently accepted for publication! This is chapter two of her thesis. A pre-print is available for viewing.
Wolters-Rinker, P. N., Rogowski, D. L., Gibb, A. C. 2022. Allometric changes and shape comparisons of two southwestern sucker species and their hybrids using a geometric morphometric approach. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. https://afspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tafs.10380
for all my publications check out this page.
I recently presented a talk on Pearce Ferry Rapid as a potential barrier to fish movement in the Colorado River to the Collaborative Conservation and Adaption Strategy Toolbox (CCAST) folks. The talk was recorded and is now available on their YouTube channel. You can also find out more information about this on my research page.