Can insects see spider webs? How about birds?

Discussion in 'Science' started by Robert, Jun 9, 2018.

  1. Robert

    Robert Well-Known Member Past Donor

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  2. fmw

    fmw Well-Known Member

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    Vision has always been the major sense for humans. It is in the other senses that other animals clean our clock.
     
  3. tecoyah

    tecoyah Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Animals on this planet "Clean Our Clocks" in every aspect but critical thinking and tool use. They are faster, stronger, larger, more stealthy,they can breath under water, fly, burrow and kill each other with teeth and claw. Some see things we need our machines to see and hear things we cannot hear. If a spiders prey could see its web...it would starve and go extinct.
     
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  4. Robert

    Robert Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    If we stick to vision, since this is an excellent topic, true that some birds of prey have us beat on acuity of sight, but in the main animals do not beat us. We beat them by a wide margin. So why do we and birds of prey have awesome sight? If you looked at the link i supplied, you could see how poorly the butterfly sees and other insects are suffering extremely blurred vision. A horse can't see the color red. I believe our sight is better than cats or dogs is.
     
  5. Robert

    Robert Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    If you mean fish, "underwater" how well do fish do out of water? We can still breathe at over 10000 feet altitude. Actually I hoped to keep this going a bit over sight. I supplied a link. We can create machines. Animals do not.

    I had long thought that spiders webs were seen by their prey. Now i know that is not true.

    As the link explains, vision is but part of this. The brain still must translate and direct actions.

    Since flies manage to duck a swat by the human, would you think a flies vision is very good?
     
  6. Robert

    Robert Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    This is an interesting video on tickling rats.

     
  7. Robert

    Robert Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    How 10 animals see the world

     
  8. wyly

    wyly Well-Known Member

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    a number of fish have no problem breathing out of water, some will actually leave their pond and go overland to seek other ponds...
    if a spiders prey could see their webs what would be the purpose of the webs? that's just weird...some insects see them just fine because they deliberate pluck the web to lure the spiders out for dinner, wasps love eating spiders...
     
    Last edited: Jun 14, 2018
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  9. wyly

    wyly Well-Known Member

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    what's better is subjective to the needs to the specie in question, many see in wave lengths we can't begin to imagine...can you see better than a dog or cat in the dark? na, it's not even close, they're full time predators that can hunt in the day or night and they'll spot the smallest movement of mouse in the deep grass while you see nothing but grass...
     
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  10. Robert

    Robert Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Your cats can see in the dead of night as can the Tarsier. Dogs see far better at night than humans though not as well as cats see. Some snakes see heat images. Sight comes in various forms.
     
  11. wyly

    wyly Well-Known Member

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    exactly, no specie is superior to another based on it's abilities, each developed the abilities have best suited to their environmental niche...cave fish are totally blind but living in 100% darkness, as vision isn't useful they developed other sensory abilities to hunt their prey, they wouldn't be impressed by our better vision...
     
  12. Robert

    Robert Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I was not making commentary over superiority. As to superiority, I prefer our ability to see colors over the deficiencies of most animals.
     
  13. One Mind

    One Mind Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    So one wonders why insects who meet their demise in spider webs, never evolved the eyesight to avoid it? Given insects are been here longer than us as a species? Would that only happen if spiders actually threatened the very survival of insects that spiders eat to survive? Or it is that spiders in order to survive and their species continue, must rely upon insects with poor eyesight?

    I know, simple questions, but questions non biologists would ask out of curiousity. And if you have an answer, explain it so that a non biologist can understand it. If the average educated man, who is not a biologist cannot understand the answer, then we need more scientists with the gift and ability to communicate in such a way so that most non biologists can under it.
     
  14. wyly

    wyly Well-Known Member

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    fair enough...there are insects and probably animals that can see far more colours than we do...i can't imagine what being able to see in UV or IR that other species can.
     
  15. Robert

    Robert Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I recently came into this topic so started the thread. It is my guess that the insect world is so vast and in such number that spiders can't wipe them out. Interesting how both insects and spiders are equipped with eyes.

    Perhaps we have some experts on this topic that might inform us all those interesting questions.
     
  16. Robert

    Robert Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I would be interested in some examples of such insects or animals. I am a bit familiar with the UV or IR so my question is colors.
     
  17. One Mind

    One Mind Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Right, the spiders have never put a particular insect into survival mode beyond what it normally is subjected to. We know that insects can build up a resistance to insecticides, as apparently those chemicals can affect their survival in a significant manner where it is used.

    Of course this is two novices stating an opinion that seems reasonable and we may have it wrong. ha ha
     
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  18. jay runner

    jay runner Banned

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    Always glad when someone else has broken trail in the morning. I can see some of the spider webs, but not all of them depending on humidity, how much twilight is left, etc.
     
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  19. truth and justice

    truth and justice Well-Known Member

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    I'm not convinced that spiders prey cannot see webs. Look at any spider webs and you won't actually see that many insects caught when compared to the huge number of insects swarming in anyone's garden. I just think that insects just get complacent or the wind blew them into the web. A spider web threads may look really thin to us but to an insect the diameter of the strands is quite large. Just watch a bee collecting pollen while skillfully flying between many webs
     
  20. wyly

    wyly Well-Known Member

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    there's a type of white spider that lives in my garden that specializes in bees, no web, it hides in inside the roses and waits for the bee to come inside looking for pollen...
     
  21. wyly

    wyly Well-Known Member

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    and humming birds collect spider silk for their nests so no visibility problems seeing webs.
     
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  22. wyly

    wyly Well-Known Member

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  23. wyly

    wyly Well-Known Member

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    flies can detect motion visually and also air movement...
    mosquito see heat so that's all they require...
     
    Last edited: Jun 15, 2018
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  24. wyly

    wyly Well-Known Member

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    that's what we were all taught in school but is it true? my dog has no issues with the dark...camping in pitch black forests where I couldn't see a thing I was all too aware of being watched by wolves and hearing them galloping through the blackened environment they didn't seem to have any issues seeing where they were going...
     
  25. Robert

    Robert Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I never encountered this in school but I want to CA schools.

    From my little bit of research, the cat's eyes see so well in the dark, the dogs eyes do not compare. But dogs outperform humans by a wide margin.

    We know of rods and cones. Rods are what work best in dark.

    Our vision at night is afforded by the rods.
     

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