What do tarantulas eat in the desert

Like wolves and sharks, tarantulas have been cast in the role of ferocious, thoroughly repulsive predators. Hollywood films are a good case in point. Tarantulas tells of an experiment-gone-wrong that turns a tarantula into a giant monster that must be dispatched with napalm. In The Incredible Shrinking Man , a man accidentally shrunk to toy size must fight and kill a menacing tarantula with a common straight pin.

In the spy classic Dr. No , James Bond Sean Connery uses a shoe to dispatch a tarantula that the villains snuck into his bed to kill him. Kiss of the Tarantula is a horror movie that has the teenage daughter of a mortuary operator unleashing pet tarantulas against her foes. More recently , Arachnophobia had killer tarantulas terrorizing a California town.

The Goliath Birdeater Theraphosa blondi , a tarantula that lives in Venezuela and Brazil, is the world's largest spider. It reportedly can weigh as much as 5.

In the real world, tarantulas don't stalk you like they do in the horror films. You have to find these solitary, reclusive animals, and since they are nocturnal the best time to do that is during the cooler and darker hours. After spending the day hiding in their silk-lined burrows or perhaps under a rock , where they are tolerably cool and safe from predators, tarantulas come out to hunt as sunset approaches and return to their burrows near sunrise. Although the big spiders are adept at ambushing passing prey by popping out of their burrows, they are also skillful stalkers.

Desert tarantulas seen out and about in the daytime, perhaps while crossing roads within a few hours before sunset or after dawn, are likely to be mature males about ten years of age that are on the prowl for females. The breeding season varies from June to December in different locations, but commonly peaks during autumn. Females remain hidden in their burrows during the day, letting the males come to them. Sexing tarantulas isn't too difficult if you know what to look for and where.

Males have a tibial spur on each front leg behind the "knee. After mating, the female deposits up to 1, eggs in a silken egg sac and aggressively guards them during a gestation period of six to seven weeks.

After hatching, the spiderlings commonly numbering about remain in the nest only a few days before dispersing. Most die long before they get the chance to mature, but a few survive to perpetuate the species.

Although mature desert tarantulas have few natural predators, birds do kill a significant number. A parasitic wasp called the tarantula hawk also poses a significant hazard to the big spiders. The big wasps which may be as large as a hummingbird inflict a very gruesome death, too.

A spider unfortunate enough to be chosen as a paralyzed host for this insect's single egg gets eaten alive, from the inside out, after the egg hatches into a voraciously hungry grub. Having remained reasonably abundant throughout their range, tarantulas are by no means endangered.

Threats posed by human activities are minimal. There is some habitat loss due to development, of course, and some tarantulas usually breeding age males are killed crossing roads. Are tarantulas poisonous? What should I do if a tarantula bites me?

How can I keep tarantulas out of my home and yard? Health and Medical Disclaimer. Curious Facts Tarantulas are harmless to humans and can be trained as pets. Some tarantulas have vibrant colors, for instance, the Brazilian white knee tarantula, which has black and white stripes; the Mexican red knee tarantula, which has a black abdomen and orange and black leg bands; and the Greenbottle blue tarantula, which has a bright orange abdomen and metallic blue legs.

The name "tarantula" apparently originated in the 14th century, in the Italian city of Taranto, where people felt compelled to dance the wildly erotic Tarantella if bitten by a spider. Most American tarantulas have barbed and mildly venomous "urticating" hairs on their abdomens, and they use their legs to cast the hairs into the faces of threatening animals, inflicting irritation of soft tissues and eyes.

Some species have on their feet tiny spinnerets that produce sticky silk patches, helping the spider gain a foothold for climbing on slick surfaces such as window glass. Some species produce a buzzing sound, like cloth ripping, by rubbing appendages together. The amount of venom a tarantula needs to stop prey is minimal. If a tarantula isn't too hungry at the time and wants to store away his prey for consumption later on, he may conceal it in silk.

A wide array of animals are frequent victims to the unconventional and frightening tarantula. Smaller tarantulas predominantly eat fellow bugs, such as cicadas, crickets, grasshoppers, sow bugs, caterpillars and beetles. They also sometimes eat other varieties of spiders. Some examples of larger tarantula prey include lizards, snakes, bats, toads, frogs and rodents such as pinky rats and mice. When not involved in the ritual of reproduction, tarantulas typically do not eat each other.

Insects like beetles and grasshoppers make up a good portion of the tarantula diet, and tarantulas in the desert may also devour small lizards, mice, and even scorpions. Although tarantulas have the ability to spin silk, they chase down their prey rather than snaring it in webs.

Their eight closely set eyes are not useful in hunting. Instead, thousands of sensitive hairs on the spider's body allow it to detect subtle movements in its immediate environment and "home in" on a victim.

The tarantula strikes with its fangs, injecting venom. There is a struggle while the venom takes effect, and the tarantula must grasp its prey with the palps, two arm-like appendages between the mouth and legs. If successful, the tarantula wads up its semi-paralyzed victim, secretes digestive juices onto it, and sucks up the liquefied prey. One creature's death leads to another's survival; the pattern of life in the desert continues.

If you encounter a tarantula, take time to observe its body, its behavior, and its connection to the fabric of desert life, but please do not disturb this delicate connection. Wildlife should never be touched, chased, or fed, and the tarantula is no exception.