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Tarantula Facts
Martin Overton 2008.03.22. 15:00
Information about Tarantulas
Information about Tarantulas
Tarantulas are the biggest of spiders. They have eight legs, are often hairy, and have two big fangs. Some are dull brown, while others can be brightly colored. The sizes range too as small as a fingernail, too as big as a dinner plate. Woah, that’s a big spider.
Tarantulas can live in rainforests and desserts.. Their prey is insects, and even rodents and small birds. They hunt by stalking, slowly creeping up. Then they quickly leap onto their prey and stick their hollow, furry fangs into the prey. Venom is pumped in and liquefies the prey’s insides. Then the spider eats it like bug soup. Mm!
Surprisingly, tarantulas spend a lot of their time hiding when they’re not hunting. Lots of animals will try to eat them although some do not succeed, for the tarantula has a few good defenses. The hairs on the back less and abdomen can break off with the slightest touch; borrowing into an enemy and making them itch terribly. They are also pretty fast runners, with eight legs! And if all else fails, they can bite, but their venom is used mainly for eating prey.
For some reason tarantula’s reputation isn’t that good. Maybe because they are big. Maybe because they are hairy. Maybe because they are poisonous. Well, yes, they are big, and hairy. They do have poison, but it can’t kill a person unless you’re allergic to it. For most people, tarantula bites are no worse than a bee sting.
People are sometimes worried they are in the bananas in grocery stores. That is extremely rare, so don’t worry!
The tarantula is a wonderful animal. Take a little closer look, and you’ll see something amazing.
Facts about the Tarantula
Tarantulas will go bald on their thorax when they get old!
Tarantulas have tiny hairs on the back of their abdomen and back legs that will stick to an enemy if disturbed and ITCH.
Tarantulas have re-tractable claws, just like cats!
Some tarantulas can get as big as dinner plates!
Tarantulas’ bite is actually not that dangerous; no more worse than a bee sting (unless you’re allergic, of coarse).
Where The Name Tarantula Came From
The name tarantula comes from a real spider that is found in Spain, it lives mainly in an area around the town of Taranto. In fact the real tarantula (The European Wolf Spider, Lycosa Tarantula) is distantly related to the other spiders that share its name.
The real tarantula is a small slightly hairy spider (about 2 inches ((5cm)) across). It is not dangerous to humans!
The people of the Spanish town of Taranto, believed that if they were bitten by they spider that they called tarantula, if the bite was not treated quickly, that they would die.
The only way to survive it's bite, they believed, was to do a dance called the Tarantella. This involved very fast spinning and jumping until they could dance no more and fell to the ground exhauasted. This the locals believed was the only cure.
The real Tarantula of course is, like the other spiders wrongly named after it, are not really dangerous to most humans. You may feel a little sick if you have been bitten by a tarantula, but normally that is all.
Nowadays, all large hairy spiders have been given the name tarantula, even though many are only very distantly related to the real tarantula. Tarantulas are often called bird eating spiders, very few actually eat birds, those that do usually raid nests and take the young chicks, most however, like our native spiders only eat insects.
Tarantula Names
Check out all the different types of tarantulas there are in the world! The name on the left side of the table is the scientific name. The name in yellow is the common name.
| African |
Asian |
Ceratogyrus bechuanicus curvedhorn
Ceratogyrus brachycephalus greaterhorned
Ceratogyrus cornuatus straighthorned
Citharischius crawshayi king baboon
Eucratoscelus longiceps African redrump
Heteroscodra maculata Toga starburst
Hysterocrates crassipes Cameroon brown
Hysterocrates gigas Cameroon red
Hysterocrates laticeps Cameroon rustred
Pterinochilus meridionalis Zimbabwe gray
Pterinochilus murinus Mombasa goldenstarburst
Pterinochilus sjoestedti Kilimanjaro mustard
Stromatopelma calceatum featherleg |
Chilobrachys andersoni Burmese mustard
Chilobrachys sericeus Asian mustard
Cyriopagopus paganus Asian chevron
Haplopelma lividum cobalt blue
Haplopelma minax Thailand black
Ornithoctonus andersoni Asia mahogany
Poecilotheria fasciata Sri Lankan ornamental
Poecilotheria formosa Salem ornamental
Poecilotheria ornata fringed ornamental
Poecilotheria regalis Indian ornamental
Poecilotheria rufilta redslate ornamental
Poecilotheria subfusca ivory ornamental
Selenocosmia javanensis Javan yellowknee
Selenocosmia lanipes New Guinea brown |
| South American |
North/Central American |
Avicularia avicularia pinktoe
Avicularia juruensis Brazilian yellowbanded
Avicularia metallica whitetoe
Avicularia purpurea Ecuadorian purple
Avicularia urticans Peruvian pinktoe
Avicularia versicolor Antilles pinktoe
Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens greenbottle blue
Crassicrus lamanai cinnamon
Lasiodora parahybana Brazilian salmon
Lasiodorides striatus stripeleg
Megaphobema robustum Colombian giant
Megaphobema velvetosoma Ecuadorian brownvelvet
Pamphobeteus antinous Bolivian blueleg
Pamphobeteus fortis Colombian brown
Pamphobeteus insignis Colombian purplebloom
Pamphobeteus nigricolor common bluebloom
Pamphobeteus ornatus Colombian pinkbloom
Pamphobeteus vespertinus redbloom
Grammostola alticeps Brazilian graysmoke
Grammostola burzaquensis Argentinean rose
Grammostola grossa Pampas tawnyred
Grammostola iheringi Entre Rios
Grammostola pulchra Brazilian black
Grammostola rosea Chilean rose |
Aphonopelma anax Texas tan
Aphonopelma bicoloratum Mexican bloodleg
Aphonopelma chalcodes desert blond
Aphonopelma eutylenum California ebony
Aphonopelma hentzi Texas brown
Aphonopelma moderatum Rio Grande gold
Aphonopelma rusticum Arizona olive
Aphonopelma seemanni Costa Rican zebra
Brachypelma albopilosum curlyhair
Brachypelma angustum Costa Rican red
Brachypelma auratum Mexican flameknee
Brachypelma baumgarteni Mexican orangebeauty
Brachypelma boehmei Mexican fireleg
Brachypelma emilia Mexican redleg
Brachypelma epicureanum Yucatan rustrump
Brachypelma klaasi Mexican pink
Brachypelma smithi Mexican redknee
Brachypelma vagans Mexican redrump
Cyclosternum fasciatum Costa Rican tigerrump
Megaphobema mesomelas Costa Rican redleg
Metriopelma zebrata Costa Rican suntiger
Phormictopus cancerides Haitian brown
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AJÁNLOM AZ OLDALT
