Effect of temperature on leg kinematics in sprinting tarantulas (Aphonopelma hentzi): high speed may limit hydraulic joint actuation

Tarantulas extend the femur–patella (proximal) and tibia–metatarsal (distal) joints of their legs hydraulically. Because these two hydraulically actuated joints are positioned in series, hemolymph flow within each leg is expected to mechanically couple the movement of the joints. In the current study, we tested two hypotheses: (1) at lower temperatures, movement of the two in-series hydraulic joints within a leg will be less coupled because of increased hemolymph viscosity slowing hemolymph flow; and (2) at higher temperatures, movement of the two in-series hydraulic joints will be less coupled because the higher stride frequencies limit the time available for hemolymph flow. We elicited maximal running speeds at four ecologically relevant temperatures (15, 24, 31 and 40°C) in Texas Brown tarantulas (Aphonopelma hentzi). The spiders increased sprint speed 2.5-fold over the temperature range by changing their stride frequency but not stride length. The coefficient of determination for linear regression (R2) of the proximal and distal joint angles was used as the measure of the degree of coupling between the two joints. This coupling coefficient between the proximal and distal joint angles, for both forelegs and hind­legs, was significantly lowest at the highest temperature at which the animals ran the fastest with the highest stride frequencies. The coordination of multiple, in-series hydraulically actuated joints may be limited by operating speed.