CLASSIFICATION
Tarantulas are primitive types of spiders and are found all over the world, especially in tropical and subtropical habitats.
Tarantulas do not have one specific habitat. However, it is necessary for the tarantula to be in a fairly moist environment where the temperature ranges from 75 degrees to 82 degrees Fahrenheit, for there to be successful molting.
As a spider nears molting, it becomes more sluggish and stops feeding. Some spiders flip on their backs to molt, while others lay on their sides. Spiderlings at first, will molt every few weeks; as they grow older, they will shed less frequently (i.e. one time a year for an adult). Under the old exoskeleton has a new, soft skin, and it must struggle to get out of the old. This is a very critical time for the spider. If the conditions aren't just right, the tarantula may split it's new skin. If this happens, the spider could bleed to death. After the molt is complete, the spider is very vulnerable. Spiders must molk since they do not have an internal skelton. They do not have bones that grow, with flexible skin covering them. Spiders have an exoskeleton, or an outside covering. When the spider grows it must shed this covering, since the hard exoskeleton is not flexibel and cannot strethc. This process of changing exoskeletons is called "molting".
Tarantulas generally do not bite as a defense, as most animals, their first line of defense is retreat, and if given the opportunity, a tarantula will readily run from an organism much larger than its self (such as humans). If the tarantula cannot retreat in time, it tends to flick "urticating hairs" when distressed ( similar to a porcupine dropping spines). These hairs acts as irritants, and can cause a rash worse than that of poison ivy. Only after a tarantula has given due warning, will it strike, and stirke position can be identified by the rearing of the abdomen, and raising of the first pair of legs.
Tarantulas feed primarily on live insects of the appropriate size, such as crickets and mealworms. Larger species may occasionally feed on smaller vertebrates, such as small mice and on some occasions, birds. Unlike other spiders, most tarantulas do not spin webs to catch their prey. Tarantulas lie in wait or ambush, until an unwary animals wanders into it's grasp, then the spider grabs and bites the prey, injecting it's venom--which is modified saliva--and starts its meal. Tarantulas cannot see their prey or their surroundings very clearly, but can see light and dark areas with the eight eyes on the top of their carapace.
A few weeks following it's adult molt, a male will construct a special type of web called a sperm web onto which it will produce an ejaculate containing spermatozoa. The male then absorbs the ejaculate into it's palpal bulbs. If the male is healthy, he will proceed relatively rapidly to mate with the female by introducing the palpal bulbs into the females epigynum. The sperm is then stored in the females spermathecae to eventually be used for fertilization of the ova.
Depending on the species, within a time period of several weeks to several months, the female will produce an egg-case. In some species, mating in the fall of one year will result in the female laying eggs in the late spring or summer. The female normally guards the egg sac and may change it's position to provide adequate conditions for egg development. The eggs will hatch in two weeks to three months.
Many arboreal species of tarantulas can live 4 to 8 years in captivity, unless they're males, in which case they may live less than two years. Large tropical forest species may live from 3 to 10 years while females of some of the large desert/scrubland species--like our tarantula--can live beyond fifteen and possibly twenty years. There is a record of a Mexican tarantula which lived in captivity for an estimated 27 years.
Tarantulas are in danger for three main reasons. As with many of our precious wildlife, tarantulas are declining in the sild because their habitats--such as the rainforest--is being destroyed at an astronomical rate. Another reason, is that many are senselessly killed because of the falacy that ta spider's bite is lethal to man. The third reason that tarantulas are in danger, is because in some countries, they are considered a delicacy, and are captured for food.
Vosjoli, Philippe de, Arachnomania: The General Care and Maintenance of
Tarantulas & Scorpions
Lund, Dale, All About Tarantulas (1977); Perrero, Laurie, and Perrero,
Louis, Tarantulas: In Nature and as Pets (1979).