Dr. Matt Hastings
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A tarantula next to a U.S. size 11 shoe, to show scale, taken near Austin, Texas Etymology. The spider originally bearing the name tarantula was Lycosa tarantula, a species of wolf spider native to Mediterranean Europe. The name is derived from the southern Italian town of Taranto.
- Molting. Tarantulas periodically shed their external skeletons in a process called molting. In the process, they also replace internal organs, such as female genitalia and stomach lining, and even regrow lost appendages.
- Habitat. There are hundreds of tarantula species found in most of the world's tropical, subtropical, and arid regions. They vary in color and behavior according to their specific environments.
- Hunting. Tarantulas are slow and deliberate movers, but accomplished nocturnal predators. Insects are their main prey, but they also target bigger game, including frogs, toads, and mice.
- Natural Threats. Tarantulas have few natural enemies, but parasitic pepsis wasps are a formidable exception. Such a wasp will paralyze a tarantula with its sting and lay its eggs on the spider's body.
- Tarantulas are quite docile and rarely bite people. A tarantula bite to a human is often no worse than a bee sting in terms of toxicity, but it can vary by species.
- Tarantulas defend themselves by throwing needle-like hairs at their attackers. If a tarantula does feel threatened, it uses its hind legs to scrape barbed hairs (called urticating or stinging hairs) from its abdomen and flick them in the direction of the threat.
- Female tarantulas can live 30 years or longer in the wild. Female tarantulas are famously long-lived. In captivity, some species have been known to live for over 30 years.
- Tarantulas come in a wide variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. Colorful tarantulas that can be kept as pets include the Mexican red knee tarantula (Brachypelma smithi), the Chilean rose tarantula (Grammastola rosea), and the pink-toed tarantula (Aricularia avicularia).
May 30, 2019 · Throughout my journeys in Singapore’s rainforests, I’ve encountered perhaps 3 or 4 species of tarantula. Singapore has a common variety, small and brown with a leg span of around 7 cm. This was the first tarantula I saw in Singapore. Also, there is a larger black species with a leg span of about 12 cm.
May 31, 2024 · Learn about tarantula, a hairy and large spider found in the Americas and Africa. Find out how they hunt, bite, and live in burrows, and see pictures of different species.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Learn about tarantulas, the large hairy spiders that live in burrows and hunt insects, frogs, and mice. Find out how they defend themselves from predators, how they molt and regrow, and how their venom affects humans.
All you need to know about tarantulas, from where they live, to what they eat and how the hunt - and why tarantulas shouldn't be feared.
