Tarantulas: Species

Summary: Did you know that there are more than 850 species of tarantulas and that they’ve been around since the time of the dinosaurs? Join Kiersten as she delves into the natural history of the tarantula and takes a look at the different species alive today.

 

 For my hearing impaired listeners, a complete transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean.

 

Show Notes: 

The Tarantula Scientist by Sy Montgomery

Remarkable Animals: The Tarantula by Gail LaBonte

“Tarantulas are everywhere and now researchers know why” by Mihai Andrei, ZME Science https://www.zmescience.com/science/biology/tarantula-evolution-gondwana-19042021/

https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/goliath-bird-eating-tarantula

https://tarantulafriendly.com/category/tarantula-species/south-america

“Farewell to the World’s Smallest Tarantula?” By Jane Schneider https://www.nwf.org/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2017/Oct-Nov/Conservation/Spruce-Fir-Moss_Spider

 

Transcript

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Kiersten - This is Ten Things I Like About…a ten minute, ten episode podcast about unknown or misunderstood wildlife.

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Kiersten - Welcome to Ten Things I Like About… I’m Kiersten, your host, and this is a podcast about misunderstood or unknown creatures in nature. Some we’ll find right out side our doors and some are continents away but all are fascinating. 

This podcast will focus ten, ten minute episodes on different animals and their amazing characteristics. Please join me on this extraordinary journey, you won’t regret it.

This episode continues tarantulas and the fifth thing I like about these unbelievable spiders is how many different species and sizes there are!

 

There are 850 different species of tarantula currently known today and we’re discovering new species all the time!

 

Let’s clarify what exactly I’m talking about when I use the word tarantula. In all the episodes of Ten Things I Like About Tarantulas, I am talking about spiders in the Theraphosidae Family. This family includes nothing but tarantulas, the heavy bodied, hairy looking arachnids. All sub-tropical and tropical tarantulas are classified under Family Theraphosidae. 

 

They were not originally called tarantulas actually. In Malaysia they are called “earth tigers”, parts of Africa call them “monkey spiders”. The name tarantula came from European explorers that made a mistake. The original spider referred to as a tarantula is not a spider classified in the Family Theraphosidae. It’s actually a wolf spider from Mediterranean Europe and it IS a fairly large, hairy spider, but not a tarantula. Back in the day, people thought this spider’s bite was exceptionally dangerous. They were mistaken, another spider was actually responsible for the terrible bite but that’s another story.  

 

It was said that the wolf spider’s bite hurt so much that it made you dance around in pain while you tried to get rid of the venom! They called the dance the tarantella, named after the Italian town of Taranto where this wolf spider is commonly found. When European explorers traveled to far away lands and saw large hairy spiders they called them tarantulas because they looked so much like the wolf spiders they ere used to seeing. So once again, a misunderstanding in language has lasted throughout human history. 

 

Okay, now that we know the origin of the tarantula’s name, let’s look at their evolutionary history. It seems that tarantulas evolved about 120 million years ago in the Cretaceous period. That’s when dinosaurs were still roaming the earth. They actually shared the planet with dinosaurs for about 60 million years. 

 

Tarantulas roamed the content of Gondwana, which was a super continent formed of modern day South America, Africa, Arabia, Madagascar, India, Australia, and Antarctica. This is why they are so widespread today. When continental drift began to create the Earth’s modern day configuration, tarantulas hitched a ride on the moving landscape. The preserved fossil of a 40 million year old tarantula shows that they have changed very little from that time period. They look pretty much like the tarantulas of today. Why mess with perfection, right?

 

As time passed varies sizes and species of tarantula developed. Let’s look at some of the fascinating species of tarantula that inhabit our planet today.

 

We’ll start off with the largest species of tarantula. Weighing in at 6 ounces with a body length of 5 inches and a leg span of 12 inches, we have the Goliath Bird-Eating Tarantula. If you put a full grown adult on a common dinner plate their legs would sit comfortably on the edges of this plate. That is a huge spider!

 

The Goliath Bird-Eating Tarantula is found in South American rainforests. They eat pretty much anything smaller than themselves including mice, lizards, amphibians, and invertebrates. Even though they are called bird eating tarantulas they rarely if ever eat birds. The name comes from a sketch that Maria Sybilla Merian, a naturalist who lived from 1647-1717, drew of a tarantula in a tree eating a hummingbird. She based the sketch on reports from explorers in country at the time that stated the tarantula was large enough to eat birds.  Much like anything else outrageous, it has withstood the test of time. 

 

Goliath Bird-Eating Tarantulas are a rust red color all over and the hairs, or setae, that cover their body lay more flat compared to some other tarantulas, giving them a more stream-lined look. Like all other tarantulas they have fangs that help them catch and eat their food. The Goliath Bird-Eating tarantula’s fangs are 2 inches long!

 

Turning to the complete opposite end of the spectrum, let’s look at the world’s smallest tarantula. The Spruce-Fir Moss Tarantula is the size of a BB gun pellet when fully grown! That is a seriously small spider. It is found only in one place in the world, a few pockets of the Southern Appalachian Mountains of the Southeastern United States. They live under the moss mats that grow on rocks at high elevations of the mountains. They are typically found above 5300 feet above sea level. The moss they build their funnel webs under provides them with insulation and food resources they need to survive. 

 

Spruce-Fir Moss tarantulas are a brown color all over the body and, similar to the Goliath bird-eating tarantula, they have a bit less hair than some other tarantulas.

 

Sadly these mini-tarantulas are on the endangered species list do to habitat loss. Since they are so small and live his in the mountain range we know very little about their individual live,s but researchers are still studying them when they can to learn everything we can about them in hopes of helping them survive.

 

Size is not the only thing that ranges widely between tarantula species. What would you think if I told you tarantulas come in many different colors? I can see you faces now! You’re giving me the chin scratch! Tarantulas only come in different shade of brown, right? Nope! While brown is a very common color some tarantulas are actually bright blue, orange, and even green!

 

There is a Cobalt Blue Tarantula native to Myanmar and Thailand and their name is no exaggeration. This tarantula is as blue as a sapphire gemstone.

 

The Green Bottle Blue Tarantula of South America has bright blue legs, a lustrous green carapace, and a sunrise orange rump. It is one of the most ostentatiously colored tarantulas.

 

The Orange-knee tarantula of Mexico is a beautiful combination of black on the body with stripes of orange on the legs and outlining the carapace. The color-blocking on these tarantulas is truly spectacular.

 

The Pinktoe tarantula, the first species of tarantula to be described by European naturalists, is black on the legs and carapace, a lighter brown on the abdomen, or opisthosoma, with light pink on the last segment of their legs, hence pink toes!

 

And my personal favorite, the Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula from the desert of Chile. The majority of the body is brown but their carapace is an iridescent pink color.

 

And many other species of tarantulas that are mainly brown on their body will have shades of brown that create striking patterns such as the Skeleton Tarantula from Brazil. This tarantula is dark brown on the abdomen and legs with a light blonde on the carapace and light blonde patterning on the legs. 

 

And the Pumpkin Patch Tarantula from Columbia. This oddly named spider is brown on the legs and chelicerae with black and tan creating an intricate geometrical pattern on the carapace and abdomen.

 

The various species and sizes of tarantulas is truly astounding and that’s why it’s my fifth favorite thing about them.

 

If you're enjoying this podcast please recommend me to friends and family and take a moment to give me a rating on whatever platform your listening. It will help me reach more listeners and give the animals I talk about an even better chance at change. 

 

Join me next week for another thing I like about tarantulas!

 

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This has been an episode of Ten Things I like About with Kiersten and Company. Original music written and performed by Katherine Camp, piano extraordinaire.