Mary Allen
Tarantulas owe their name to the painter Maria Sibylla Merian. On one of her paintings was a spider sitting on a dead bird – a “tarantula”.
Characteristics
What does a tarantula look like?
Like all spiders, tarantulas are not insects but belong to a very own group of animals. They form the class of arachnids. This can be seen at first glance: all spiders have eight legs, while insects only have six. Tarantulas have a body that is up to ten centimeters long and consists of a front body and a thick abdomen.
They are brown to black and densely hairy. The largest tarantulas are the females of the genus Theraphosa from Venezuela (South America): their bodies are up to twelve centimeters long. The leg span of these spiders can be more than 30 centimeters and they weigh up to 170 grams. The densely hairy animals are rust-red to brown in color.
The males of the giant tarantulas are much more delicate than the females and they don’t get as heavy either. However, other species are only one to one and a half centimeters tall. Most tarantulas grow to about two inches; the males are almost always smaller than the females. Since their solid skin shell cannot grow, tarantulas, like all spiders, have to shed their skin regularly.
Hair, eyes, lungs, and much more are also completely renewed. Tarantulas cannot see or hear very well. Their most important sensory organs are tiny whiskers on their legs. With them, they can perceive all air currents and vibrations of the ground and thus also discover their prey.
Where do tarantulas live?
Tarantulas live in all tropical regions of the world, some also in subtropical areas. They have even made it as far as Europe: tarantulas also live in Portugal and Spain and on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. There are groups of tarantulas that live on bushes and trees in the tropical rain forests, where they build webs that serve as burrows. Other species live on the ground, hiding in burrows and under shrubs. Some species, such as the red-footed tarantula, are commonly found in banana and pineapple orchards, hiding in the plant’s leaf funnels.
What species of tarantula are there?
There are about 900 different species of tarantulas. And new species are still being discovered in the tropical jungles every year. Among the largest are the giant tarantula (Theraphosa) from Venezuela and the Brazilian giant tarantula (Lasiodora) from Brazil. It is considered one of the most aggressive tarantulas.
How old do tarantulas get?
How old tarantulas get in nature is not known. Animals kept in the terrarium can live more than 20 years, some even 25 to 30 years. However, only the females live that long. The males are no more than four years old, in very rare cases up to 13 years.
Behavior
How do tarantulas live?
The tarantula becomes active at dusk and at night. Unlike many of our native spiders, it does not build webs but lurks in hiding for its prey. As soon as a prey animal comes by, she grabs it and kills it with a poisonous bite. All tarantulas are poisonous. However, they are not dangerous to humans.
While a bite can be uncomfortable and painful, a tarantula bite is not fatal to a healthy adult human. However, if you are allergic to insect venom such as bee venom, the bite of a tarantula can be life-threatening. Much more unpleasant than the bite is another behavior of the South American tarantulas: They “shoot” enemies with their hair.
They turn their hindquarters towards the attacker and use their hind legs to brush so-called stinging hairs from their abdomen towards the enemy. This hair burns terribly on the skin, but also on the mucous membranes, in the eyes, and in the mouth and nose. A bald spot remains on the spider’s abdomen. Only after the next molt does new hair grow there again.
Friends and foes of the tarantula
In nature, tarantulas are preyed upon by birds and larger reptiles. In addition, humans are a threat to them because they are increasingly destroying their natural habitat.
How do tarantulas reproduce?
Male tarantulas live dangerously: If they mistake the larger female for prey, then it’s over for them. It is therefore important that they show the female: Attention, I am a male tarantula and would like to mate with you! To do this, the male drums his legs on the ground in front of the female’s cavity and twitches his body. The female feels these shocks and comes out of hiding. If it also starts beating its legs on the ground, that’s a good sign: It’s ready to mate.
The male cautiously approaches the female and feels her with his front legs. This is to encourage the female to stand up in front of her so the male can get to the underside of the female’s hind body. The male eventually clutches the female and inseminates her.
Sometime after mating, the female builds a cocoon and weaves herself into her burrow. During this time it does not eat. Finally, the female lays eggs, from which the young tarantulas hatch after a while.
How does the tarantula hunt?
Tarantulas lie in wait for their prey in hiding places. They grab them with their pincer-like mouthparts, kill them with a venomous bite and inject a digestive secretion into the prey. The digested, liquid prey is then sucked up.
Care
What do tarantulas eat?
Tarantulas mainly eat insects, but also other spiders and small vertebrates such as mice or lizards. It is important that the prey moves – otherwise the spider will not recognize it.
The attitude of the tarantula
Some people keep tarantulas as pets in their terrarium. However, they really aren’t the ideal pets: tarantulas are nocturnal and stay hidden during the day. Before molting, they crawl into their caves or webs and often only come out again after weeks. In addition, they are not animals to touch: Which means great stress for tarantulas.
And one should not forget that their bite is poisonous. People with an allergy to insect venom should therefore never keep tarantulas. A terrarium for tarantulas must have a base area of 30 by 30 centimeters, for large species 30 by 40 centimeters. A layer of soil and leaves is put on the bottom; the terrarium is also planted. Since tarantulas come from warm countries, they need a warm and humid climate: the terrarium must be heated so that the temperature is around 22 to 25° Celsius. Humidity must be 70 to 80 percent.