What does a tarantula spider actually eat?

Nature presents us with various riddles. We are used to the fact that large species usually stand higher in the food chain than small ones. And, it seems that spider bugs feed on nectar or plant sap, birds feed on these spider bugs, animals or stronger birds eat birds. And here, on you - a tarantula spider, how can an arthropod defeat a bird !? We will try to figure this out.

Tarantula Spider: lifestyle, nutrition, breeding

As always, at the beginning of the article we will give a brief description of the type of animal, so that the reader can immediately imagine what, in fact, we are talking about, who is this very tarantula spider. It turns out that there is a whole family of tarantulas of various sizes and colors. These spiders are so interesting and diverse that at present some people are happy to breed tarantulas as pets.

Spider biology

These spiders got their name thanks to engravings by the German artist and entomologist Maria Sibylla Merian. These engravings depicted huge spiders eating hummingbirds. This happened at the end of the seventeenth century, when this outstanding woman traveled to South America, in particular in the territory of modern Suriname.

Description

Tarantulas are huge spiders of the family of the same name, which includes many different species, which have the following similar characteristics:

1. Huge for arachnids, the size of the animal, 20-30 centimeters in leg span.
2. These spiders do not weave a patina, but are ambush predators.
3. All these arthropods have an exotic color, becoming more intense with each subsequent molt.
4. Huge shaggy limbs.
5. The body is covered with a dense chitin exoskeleton.

Help from Wikipedia. Exoskeleton is an external type of skeleton in some invertebrate animals. It forms protective armor like knightly armor and has no cellular structure. In terms of relative strength, the exoskeleton is one of the best tissues in nature!

The body structure of tarantulas is similar to all representatives of arachnids: cephalothorax, abdomen and eight limbs:

• four paws;
• two are chelicera for capturing prey, digging holes and so on;
• two pedipalps that perform the function of touch.

By the way! The hairs on the legs of spiders are the organ of smell and hearing!

Food

In fact, tarantulas rarely eat meat, their digestion system is so complicated that it requires more delicate and easily digestible (remember the miniature about rabbits?) Food. But the nutrition of these spiders is exclusively carnivorous, they are still referred to the so-called strict predators.

Our help! Strict, or obligate, predators are animals that eat exclusively other animals without eating plant food.

In the diet of tarantula spiders, species such as:

• birds;
• small rodents;
• insects
• arachnids;
• amphibians;
• fish.

Lifestyle

Different tarantulas live at different levels of the biosphere. There are spiders living in the crowns of trees, there are individuals living in the grass. Third arthropods of this family prefer a normal lifestyle.Biologists divide these spiders into three broad categories:

• wood;
• ground;
• burrows.

It is easy to guess about the lifestyle that individuals of each of these categories lead.
Moreover, in ordinary life, giant spiders are very inactive. Even a hungry tarantula can wait for its prey in an ambush for a long time, and there is nothing to talk about a well-fed individual. Adult spider females are in the same place for months without leaving an ambush.

Reproduction and development

Before the start of mating games, the body of the male tarantula is slightly modified. On its extremities - the pedipalps, the so-called cymbium is formed - a growth containing seminal fluid. Mutations and chilicers are also exposed, on which grips grow to hold the female during mating, they are called tibial hooks.

Before mating, the male secretes part of the seminal fluid onto a web specially woven for mating. In addition, a man performs a mating dance, showing that arthropods belong to the same species.

During mating, the male with the help of tibial hooks holds the partner, and with the pedipalps transfers the seed into the body of the female. After this action, the male flees, as the often-hungry female can easily have a bite with her sexual partner.

After a while, it can last up to several months, depending on the species, a female from the web weaves a nest in which she lays her eggs. Their number also has a species difference: from 50 pieces to two thousand. Then, around the masonry, the spider mother forms a cocoon in the shape of a ball and is near it for protection and incubation. A caring female regulates the temperature inside the cocoon by dragging it from place to place or turning it in different positions.

After a certain time, specific for each species, from the cocoon, small nymph spiders appear. They are almost transparent and do not feed from the external environment, using the supply of nutrients that nature laid in them in the egg for life.

After some time and a couple of molts, the nymphs turn into larvae that are already similar to spiders, but by the way, they do not feed for some time, continuing to use the supply of food in their abdomen.

The larva molts and turns into an adult - an adult.

Molting

Speaking about the process of development of spiders, one cannot help but touch upon the topic of their molting. This is the most important process in their life, during which the animals undergo qualitative changes. Young spiders molt every month; with age, the length of the link extends to one year or more.

Shedding is the process of replacing an exoskeleton in spiders. Shortly before the start of this process, animals stop feeding, so that it is easier to free themselves from chitinous coatings that began to burden their body. In most cases, the process of molting is carried out by spiders, having turned over on their back, so it is easier for them to throw off a shell that has become out of size.

Reference! Often when molting, spiders can lose their chelicera or pedipalps, which usually recover the next time the shell is replaced.

After molting, the spider increases in size by almost one and a half times, while its color becomes brighter, as if he had acquired a new shell in a fashionable clothing store.

Age

Tarantulas are record holders in life expectancy among arachnids. Females of some species live up to thirty-odd years. By the way, the age of spiders is sometimes measured by the number of links. Males live much less, depending on who is lucky during mating.

Protective gear

Tarantula spiders have three types of defense mechanisms against external enemies.

1. Bites
2. Burning hairs from abdomen.
3. Attack by excrement.

Bites

The bite of a tarantula spider combines the pain of piercing the skin with the action of the poison, which spiders kill their victims and therefore need to be doubly cautious.

Many people are wondering what will happen if a tarantula spider bites? We answer that the reaction of each organism is individual: from mild itching to headache, fever and severe inflammation.However, no deaths from a spider bite were observed.

But if the tarantula spider is not dangerous for humans, this does not mean that it is not necessary to fear it at all. Cases of death of cats after spider bites have been recorded.

Burning hair

Hair on the abdomen of a tarantula in contact with human or animal skin can cause an allergic reaction. Therefore, spiders protect them with the most valuable thing - egg laying. Females weave burning hairs in a web and a cocoon.

Excrement

Some types of spiders during defense shoot a stream of excrement in the direction of enemy eyes, trying to blind the enemy.

Breeding

Now let's talk about how to properly breed a tarantula spider at home. In order to properly contain such an unusual animal from the point of view of the layman, you need to know a few rules.

Terrarium

The terrarium for the tarantula spider needs to be selected and equipped depending on its belonging to one or another category. So, for example, for arboreal representatives, the height of the walls of the structure should not be lower than 35-50 centimeters. It’s good to have an interesting tree branch in such a dwelling, on which your animal could climb as in natural conditions.

Terrestrial spiders acquire a terrarium, elongated so that the pet can where to run and frolic.

For burrow spiders, it is desirable to have an impromptu mink, similar to that made in nature. These can be objects such as:

• coconut shell;
• shell from a large clam;
• a piece of bamboo trunk;
• clay cup with broken side.

Regardless of the type of spider, the bottom of the terrarium should be covered with a loose substrate. Coconut flakes are best for this, although you can use clean, dry soil.

Climatic conditions

For residents of warm countries of tarantulas, temperature means a lot. When kept at home, you need to maintain it at 25 degrees Celsius. This can be achieved using special lamps for heating or heating bedding on the bottom of the terrarium.

Humidity for the inhabitants of the subtropics also plays a big role. It should be at a level of 80-90 percent. To do this, spray the substrate 2-3 times a day or put a bowl of water, which during evaporation moisturizes the air.

Attention! Humidify the substrate only in one corner of the terrarium, the rest of the litter should be in a dry state.

Feeding

A home tarantula spider is unpretentious to eat, the main thing is that it be of animal origin and exceed the size of your pet's body.

The choice of how to feed a tarantula spider at home is diverse, it can be:

• locusts and grasshoppers;
• large insects;
• mouse
• frogs;
• Worms
• bloodworm and maggot.

Attention! It is very important that your pet’s prey is alive. So the spider eats and simultaneously develops.

Types of spiders

Now we list some of the most popular species of tarantulas spiders, which are mostly kept at home by lovers of these exotic animals.

Goliath

The goliath tarantula is perhaps the most famous of the family. This spider is the largest of the tarantulas. In the Guinness Book of Records, a female is mentioned, the span of the limbs of which was 28 centimeters. And the size of the body is ten.

Many pauchatniki strive to get it in their collection, but thanks to the prohibitions of the authorities of the South American countries where he is found, goliath is still a rarity.

Chilean pink

Chilean pink tarantula, on the contrary, is one of the most common inhabitants of home terrariums. He is very handsome and a little aggressive. In nature, it is distributed throughout almost the entire American continent: from the United States to Chile.

The size of the "Chilean" does not exceed one and a half dozen centimeters in leg span.

Other species

Briefly list a few more original species of tarantulas spiders:

• Brazilian black and white;
• Brachipelma Smith, otherwise Mexican Red-Bone;
• Avicularia purpurea;
• Avicularia versicolor;
• Brachypelma boehmei;
• Brachypelma klaasi;
• Cyclosternum fasciatum.

At the end of our conversation about these interesting animals, we suggest you watch the video of the famous Nat Geo Wild TV channel: