My Spineless Wonders Collection
Heather's Collection
Scavenger hunt
Week 5 - In my house
True fact:
Tarantulas have urticating hairs which are used for defense. Caterpillars have similar structures. When threatened, tarantulas use their last pair of legs to fling their abdominal hairs towards their attacker. Note the bald spot on the T's abdomen in the picture.
These barbed hair-like structures can cause great irritation when imbedded in the skin. This adaptation may allow the tarantula to make a quick escape, and may convince the predator to avoid tarantula enounters in the future.
Image and research by Foley et al. 2019 can be found at at https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/501262v3.full
Distribution: Native to Brazil & Uruguay
Habitat: Temperate grasslands (pampas)
Niche: Predator of other arthropods, mice, and small lizards
Other: Common to pet trade - known as a relatively easy and docile species
Author's pet tarantula, Aragog. Approximately 8 year old male Grammostola pulchra. Image taken by Heather.
Classification
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
Brazilian black tarantula
Grammostola pulchra
Grammostola pulchra female tarantula molting - time lapse
When tarantulas molt, they typically are on their backs. Many tarantula keepers have been momentarily terrified after discovering their pet T its back. Closer inspection reveals that it is just a molt.