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If you want to live and thrive, let the spider run alive. ~- American Quaker Saying
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Natural History
The spider, dropping down from twig,
Unfolds a plan of her devising,
A thin premeditated rig
To use in rising.
And all that journey down through space,
In cool descent and loyal hearted,
She spins a ladder to the place
From where she started.
Thus I, gone forth as spiders do
In spider's web a truth discerning,
Attach one silken thread to you
For my returning.
-- E.B. White
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Tarantulas are part of the family of spiders called Hairy Mygalomorphs. These are the spiders that, scientists believe, have been around for millions of years and have not changed much in that time! There are around 700 kinds, or species, of Tarantulas.
Tarantulas are found in the rainforests and jungles of South and Central America, in Africa and in the southern part of North America. Many Tarantulas live in burrows underground. They will either use their fangs to dig them or else take someone elses burrow-home. Even though they do not spin webs, Tarantulas use their silk to make doors or soft walls for their burrow or, in the case of tree-living tarantulas, tunnel-shaped homes in trees.
Tarantulas are nighttime hunters who will pounce on their prey. They eat insects, beetles and grasshoppers. The Goliath Bird-eating Tarantula species will eat larger prey, such as, lizards, snakes, frogs, bats and small birds.
All Tarantulas have an interesting way of defending themselves. They have hairs on their abdomen (stomachs) that have sharp little barbs, or pokey things, on them. When threatened, the spider will rub these hairs with their legs and shoot them at their predator. That would hurt!
Predators that the tarantula would be afraid of are weasels, hawks, owls, skunks and snakes. Their worst enemy is the Spider-Wasp. The female wasp will paralyze the spider by stinging it. She then digs a hole and puts the spider and an egg into it. When the egg hatches, the baby wasp will eat away at the paralyzed spider. The spider could stay buried alive for many days before the larvae hatch.
One other predator that the Tarantula must fear is
people. Not only are they caught as pets; in some countries they are eaten, as well. They are said to have a nutty taste kind of like peanut butter! Maybe Ill stop by a fried spider diner sometime NOT!
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Daddy Long Legs are cool spiders. Right? Wrong!!
Daddy Long Legs are NOT spiders, or even insects, at all! They are part of the Arachnid family but in a different class. They are, in fact, called Harvestmen. They have 3 body sections, not two like spiders, and their legs have seven sections which they can break off to surprise or distract a predator.
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The Black Widow spider is the most poisonous spider in North America, but only the adult female.
The female Black Widow is easy to recognize (if you care to get that close) by the red hourglass shape on the underneath part of her abdomen. She has a shiny black body with various types of red markings on the top, depending on the species. There are about five species of Black Widow spiders in North America.
The black widow will grow to about 8-10mm.
Black Widows will lay up to 400 eggs at a time, but they are known to be cannibals, which means that they will eat each other. The Black Widow has unfairly earned a bad reputation for wanting to eat her mate. She will only eat her mate when she mistakes him for a meal!
The silk of this spider is known to be the strongest of all silk. The Black Widow spider does not spin the pretty webs, instead she will spin the thick jumbles looking cobweb. These webs catch beetles, flies, grasshoppers, moths and other spiders.
These spiders, although a little scary, have enemies, as well. A few wasps can sting and paralyze, before eating the Black Widow. She is also a favorite food of the Praying Mantis. Some birds will eat these spiders but could end up with an upset stomach from her poisons. The bright red markings on her belly will warn possible predators that she is a nasty meal.
