This research supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation

A wide range of topics can be addressed with one well-studied organism, and now that I have developed inexpensive protocols for rearing these animals in the laboratory, many new opportunities for controlled experiments have arisen. In 2006, my Mexican collaborators hosted two students  collecting Nephila from several populations.  These spiders are the ancestors of the animals currently in the laboratory in Vermont.
Many of the research questions I investigate are appropriate for undergraduate involvement.  Feeding large numbers of spiders requires many hands, and at the height of each rearing, there are 8-10 students working in the lab as volunteers or work-study students.  In addition, each year one or two prior volunteer students or students seeking novel research experience take on independent research projects in the lab.
	Juveniles in the Percival incubator
	These independent projects are wide-ranging, reflecting the individual interests of the students and the material at hand.   Recent undergraduate projects have included testing for juvenile hormone sensitivity, molecular genetics of diverse Nephila species, and behavioral responses to variation in food availability.   Currently, students are working as a team to develop a protocol for testing whether changing dietary needs in growing female Nephila clavipes are caused by increasing metabolic rates.