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Tarantula mating season in Arkansas
sharpshooter039
Member Posts: 5,897 ✭✭✭
Every year around this time I see a few running around the place, My dog like to chase them so it makes them easier to see. My wife has massive fear of them even after I have picked them up to show her they are not aggressive and pulled up websites letting her know even if they did bite it is about like a bee sting. I dont know why but this year I am seeing way more than normal, I have already caught and removed 4 males off of the front porch and just walked out to the truck and saw a Hand size female by the wood pile, caught her and moved her back ut to the woods,glad the wife did not see her she would have blasted her with a 410
Comments
At this time of year the sexes can be easily distinguished by their body shape and size, as well as the morphology of their pedipalps. The pedipalps are the smaller leg-like appendages on either side of the fangs. The males use them to store semen and to reach under the females body to the gonopore on the anterior underside of her abdomen.
It is tarantula mating season thoughout their range. The males undergo their first adult molt, make a sperm web, fill their pedipalps and begin walking. They do door to door selling their wares. Females rarely move more than a few inches from their burrow mouth. The males will barely eat, being focused on finding mates. By the first hard frost almost all will be dead. The females of some species can live up to 30 years.
At this time of year the sexes can be easily distinguished by their body shape and size, as well as the morphology of their pedipalps. The pedipalps are the smaller leg-like appendages on either side of the fangs. The males use them to store semen and to reach under the females body to the gonopore on the anterior underside of her abdomen.
stop. you're turning me on.
quote:Originally posted by He Dog
It is tarantula mating season thoughout their range. The males undergo their first adult molt, make a sperm web, fill their pedipalps and begin walking. They do door to door selling their wares. Females rarely move more than a few inches from their burrow mouth. The males will barely eat, being focused on finding mates. By the first hard frost almost all will be dead. The females of some species can live up to 30 years.
At this time of year the sexes can be easily distinguished by their body shape and size, as well as the morphology of their pedipalps. The pedipalps are the smaller leg-like appendages on either side of the fangs. The males use them to store semen and to reach under the females body to the gonopore on the anterior underside of her abdomen.
stop. you're turning me on.
Wait'll I talk dirty in tarantula.[}:)]
How would you like to see so many it looked like the ground was moving.
I had to ride a Motorcycle thru one only about 30-40 feet wide but it was scary.
quote:Tarantula migration is a seasonal occurrence in arid and desert locations. Although primarily an autumnal activity, migrations occur in summer in some locations, such as Texas. Tarantula migrations may be brief, spanning only one day. Other migrations can last for weeks.
Tarantula migration occurs most commonly when males go out in search of potential mates. Male tarantulas are known to travel great distances in order to establish breeding sites. Female tarantulas are less likely to be seen in open spaces, as they tend to reside within terrestrial or arboreal burrows. Following copulation, wandering males quickly depart to avoid becoming the prey of the newly fertilized female.
A new insult to add to my list. [:D]
Wait...and just how do you check to see if their male or female, and why [:o)] [:D]
That's easy the males are the nine legged ones. [:D]
Had one on the front of the house last week:
..Dang, Dan. You've got snakes, tarantulas, ticks and scorpions. Not sure if I want to be your neighbor or not...[:0]
pics
Kind of weird but I can find none of large Migrations.
Did find this guy.
quote:Originally posted by drobs
Had one on the front of the house last week:
..Dang, Dan. You've got snakes, tarantulas, ticks and scorpions. Not sure if I want to be your neighbor or not...[:0]
I'm good as long as they stay outside the house.
quote:Originally posted by realspeed
pics
Kind of weird but I can find none of large Migrations.
Did find this guy.
Yeah, but that is a Brazilian spider. The Goliath bird eating spider (Theraphosa leblondi) is arguably the largest megalomorph spider in the world.
I put a grow right bulb on top of the terrarium for the plants. First time I turned the light on I freaked, all his hair lite up. Definetly a conversation piece.
I got him down by the docks, my guess is he was shipped in from South America in a Banana boat.
The ones in the south west are maybe half that size, maybe a quarter the mass of the South American variety.
I once drove through a migration, in the Mojave desert, not far from the Calico ghost town. Maybe 3-4 A.M., I was the only car for many miles, hadn't seen a soul for hours. I heard a strange noise and thought it was the road surface, I didn't even notice the trail of crushed goop behind me until I stopped. As far as I could tell a quarter of a mile of road was covered in them. I sat there until dawn and just watched, sitting on my hood[:D].
The really big ones are likely imports and an invasive species.
I always found them fascinating, mine never bite, he did kind of try a few times, but never succeeded. Some days he just didn't want to be messed with, Feeding time was really gross.
How Do You Cook them[;)]
On National Geographic they showed them cooking them on a stick over an open fire, kind of like marshmallows, burn the hair off, bite the butt off and suck the guts out. Mmmmm good.
After a quick look online, seems they do exist in Florida, but are not native.
Introduced from Mexico in the 80's somehow,....probably in produce shipments.
Only thing I have seen that's even close are these little black and grey hairy spiders that occasionally get in my converted garage from outside.
They are neat little buggers,......I catch them and take them back outside.
Never really seen one bigger than a few inches across, including legs.
quote: If you get bit, do you have to do the Italian dance?
I dont think getting bit is a prerequisite to doing some kind of dance...I suspect that if one just had one jump on 'em, or looked down to see what was crawling on 'em...& saw it was a huge hairy spider, they might just start dancing or bouncing off the closest stationary object...[^]
...When baling hay always scare up a bunch...if you look close.
Never really seen one bigger than a few inches across, including legs.
quote: If you get bit, do you have to do the Italian dance?
I dont think getting bit is a prerequisite to doing some kind of dance...I suspect that if one just had one jump on 'em, or looked down to see what was crawling on 'em...& saw it was a huge hairy spider, they might just start dancing or bouncing off the closest stationary object...[^]
Off topic, but funny as heck. I was on a road trip, on my way to get my brother out of jail in Seattle. Just me and my big Ol Olds 98. I stop to take a pee and see a big Gopher snake start to cross the highway. I pick him up thinking I'll release him someplace safer. I put him in a paper sandwich bag, tied the top closed, poked some air holes in the bag and put it in my glove box.
I picked up a couple of hitchhikers, then a couple of more and eventually had a car full. One guy screams snake and tries to climb out the door while I was doing sixty. I get stopped all the doors fly open and a half dozen people are jumping around slapping their clothing and shaking their pants legs, making noises like a group of 12 year old girls sitting on a Red Ant hill. I had no idea so many people freak when somebody says snake.
My guess is a Tarantula would have produced about the same results.