Tarantulas
Hello, I'm the OUTDOOR PROFESSOR from DiscoveringTheOutdoors.com/
Here's your outdoor tip on tarantulas.
They are fearsome looking, but they are a novel and adored pet for some people. They also serve as delicacies at the dinner table for people of the Amazon. Tarantulas are the largest spiders and hold a position in folklore across the world.
There are about 850 species of tarantulas in the world and more than four dozen species in the United States. In the southwestern US, they live alone in desert basins, mountain foothills and forest slopes. Their nests can be in burrows or crevices sequestered in the ground, in cliff faces and between tree roots. Some produce a buzzing sound by rubbing their jaws or front legs against each other.
Tarantulas will attack anything that they can subdue including beetles, grasshoppers, other spiders, lizards or even mice. They kill by using their fangs to inject venom into their victims. They inject a chemical into the prey that dissolves the flesh. During mating season, the male may be accepted or rejected by the female—in either case becoming the female’s next source of protein to support her young. After mating the female produces an egg sac and six or seven weeks later hundreds of tiny spiderlings hatch. After a few weeks, the young will leave the nest to be out on their own. As tarantulas mature, they molt several times shedding their old exoskeleton for a new one. Male are expected to live for only a few years, but females will live for decades.
Here are some of the characteristics of tarantulas in the United States:
- Red to tan to black in color
- Body up to three inches
- Three to five inch legs
- Body and legs are hairy
- Males are slimmer and longer than females
- Exoskeleton has fused head and thorax connected with a narrow waist to an oval abdomen
- Eight eyes in two groups on the forehead
- Backward pointing fangs and mouth below the eyes
- Four pairs of legs connected to the fused head and thorax
- Spins no typical spider web but instead catches its prey by pursuit.
When threatened, the American tarantula can used its fangs to bite you or its barbed/venomous abdominal hairs to damage soft tissue or cause eye irritation. If a tarantula bites you—it will usually be after warning you to back off by raising its front legs and displaying its fangs in a threat posture. It will inflict a pain comparable to bee or wasp sting. A tarantula may use its legs to cast its hairs into the victim's face causing the eyes to water, the nose to itch, the breathing passages to swell shut, and the lips and tongue to become irritated. Although their attack can be painful, it is seldom known to cause serious harm. A severe allergic reaction may occur for some people. The American Tarantula Society says no one has ever died from a tarantula bite.
Treating a bite which often has redness, localized pain, and swelling includes:
- Washing the site with soap and water
- Apply a cool compress or even an ice cube to reduce swelling
- You may--Apply meat tenderizer mixed with water to reduce irritation
- Applying a topical cortisone or Benadryl cream to reduce irritation
- Watch for symptoms of an infection or allergic reaction
If you come into contact with their hairs, which can produce intense irritation you should:
- Be careful not to inhale loose hairs
- Apply duct tape or wax to pick up loose hairs from your skin
- Use tweezers to pluck out hairs from your skin
- Apply steroid creams
- Seek medical care if you think you may have inhaled the hairs into your lungs or gotten them into your eyes
- Watch for symptoms of an infection or allergic reaction
Remember that tarantulas may have a fearsome look, but in some cases, they may just be a family pet.
This is the OUTDOOR PROFESSOR from DiscoveringTheOutdoors.com/
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References-Additional Reading
Tarantulas
http://www.desertusa.com/insects/tarantulas.html
Tarantula
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/arachnids/spider/Tarantulaprintout.shtml
Tarantula Facts
http://www.livescience.com/39963-tarantula.html
Nature Quotient.
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