Page 90 - 2007 DT 12 Issues

Tarantulas in Love speed record for getting out of her a poisonous monster whose bite can be
reach and starts looking for another deadly, or at least, excruciating. In the
th
n Halloween morning, a love- meaningful relationship. 16 Century, the inhabitants of Taranto,
sick male Desert Tarantula He needn’t worry too much. The Italy believed that being bitten by a ta-
Owandered into the Red Rock belief that the female always eats her rantula caused convulsions, among other
Canyon Bookstore, having taken a man after the rendezvous is largely dire consequences. (Actually, another
wrong turn in his quest to find a female. a myth. She almost never does, (but spider was to blame). The only purported
A kind worker scooped him up out of she’s probably thinking about it), treatment was to sweat the poison out by
harm’s way and deposited him in a large leaving him alone to make another frenetic physical jumping and spinning
plastic container which ended up on top conquest—unless she’s re-a-lly hungry around until exhausted, hence the origin
of the Visitor Center Information Desk and needs nourishment in order to lay of the tarantella.
to the “delight” of the tourists. In reality, the tarantula is most-
“Happy Ha-llo-we-e-n!” ly harmless to humans. It rarely
“Oh, my Gawd,” drawled one bites anything it doesn’t plan to
startled lady, jerking quickly back- eat, unless grossly mishandled or
wards. “Is that a spider?” The poor seriously threatened. Even then,
tarantula backed into the corner of its main tactic is to rear up on its
his plastic prison as she loomed front legs and scrape a cloud of por-
over him. You could almost hear cupine-like hairs off its abdomen
the cringing beast’s plaintive cry: into the eyes of its adversary. These
“Help! That big lizard is come to urticating hairs burn and itch on
eat me!” the skin and are quite effective in
In late summer or fall, a male making a would-be predator back
tarantula with romance on his mind off. Contrary to Hollywood horror
takes to the road, leaving the security of her eggs. Our roving Romeo will never films, no human has ever been killed by
his burrow to wander far from home seek- return to his burrow, but he’ll thoroughly a tarantula or even seriously sickened. If
ing a mate—or two, or three. The annual enjoy the rest of his short life, probably dying you are clumsy enough to manage getting
“tarantula migration” has begun! exhausted when the cold of winter arrives. bitten, the bite can be mildly to moderately
The female tarantula, which rarely After mating, the female may store painful, like a bee sting.
ventures more than a few feet from her the sperm in her two abdominal pouches Tarantulas molt once a year or once
burrow, marks her scent on its silken for weeks. She will lay up to 1,000 eggs every 2 years after they reach maturity,
lining, a signal to the wandering male bathed in sperm on the silk lining of in about 8 to 10 years, depending on the
that she’s open to receiving visitors. He’s her burrow, then weave another sheet species. Although they are arachnids and
thinking—love, love, love, but she may be of silk on top of it and seal the edges. not insects, they do have exoskeletons.
thinking—dinner, dinner, dinner! She will carry the egg sac up to the When the old skeleton is shed, it leaves
Our male is admirably equipped edge of the burrow to warm in the sun the animal vulnerable until the new one
for his task, with two specialized claws and guard the eggs until they hatch. hardens, about 12 hours after molting.
shaped like syringes on the ends of his The tiny spiderlings are on their own, Female tarantulas are slightly larger than
pedipalps—short, leg-like appendages however, once they leave home after a males. The Desert Tarantula grows about
near his mouth. He weaves a “bulb” to few days. Perhaps 2 or 3 will make it 2 to 3 inches long, excluding leg span.
hold the sperm, then “load” it into his to adulthood. While the poor male may The largest known spider is the Goli-
pedipalps. He saunters up and performs only live 8 to 10 years in all, his mate ath Tarantula of South America which
his courtship dance, subduing the fe- may live to the ripe old age of 20 years reaches a body length of 5 inches with
male with gentle caresses. He bends her or more, especially if she is someone’s a leg span of up to 12 inches. Except
backwards and inserts the bulbs into her pampered pet. for a few arboreal Asian species, North
abdominal slit. If his mate-of-the-mo- The tarantula is one of the most re- American species are ground dwellers.
ment pulls away, he will pursue her. Job viled and misunderstood of all spiders, Colors vary geographically, from
done, he tries to set the tarantula land- saddled with an unearned reputation as light tan, to reddish brown to dark brown
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