Data from: Traffic noise leads to cardiac stress reactions in two, urban-tolerant, <em>Trichonephila</em> spiders, but in different ways

For this study, we measured heart rate elevations in two orb-weaving Trichonephila spiders in the United States, the non-native jorō spider (Trichonephila clavata) and the golden silk spider (Trichonephila clavipes). Mature females were captured along roads at natural areas with either prior exposure to loud noise with high daily traffic patterns or quiet sites with low daily traffic patterns. In the laboratory, each female was placed in an enclosure that enabled web-building. Enclosures were built from a 60 cm x 60 cm x 6 cm wooden frame with clear plastic attached to each side. For our experiments, we broadcast a simulated pink noise signal (lowpass 1/f, 0.20 Hz frequency cut off, 44.1 kHz sample rate) at captive spiders and monitored their heart rate via contractions of the dorsal vessel, which we monitored remotely by high-magnification video. We quantified spider heart rates from the recorded videos by counting the number of heart beats per minute prior to noise exposure (baseline heart rate) and following noise exposure, both at the halfway point (5-min), and at the end of the noise playback (10-min). Maximum heart rate (beats/min) was defined as whichever measure was the highest between the 5-min and 10-min video recording period. After determining baseline and maximum heart rate, we calculated change in heart rate as the baseline heart rate subtracted from maximum heart rate for each female.