What does a tarantula look like, are they present in Russia, and how dangerous are they?

• Wild animals
• >>
• Arachnids

Some people shudder at one photo of this creature, while others keep it at home as a pet. The species is one of the most famous venomous spiders. They are often confused with tarantulas, which is wrong, because the tarantula spider is much smaller. Despite popular belief, the creature's venom is not fatal to humans.

Origin of the species and description

Photo: Tarantula spider

The genus Lycosa comes from the wolf spider family. The name of the species originated in the Renaissance. In the past, Italian cities were infested with these arachnids, which is why many bites were reported, accompanied by convulsions. The disease was called tarantism. Most of the bites were recorded in the city of Taranto, where the name of the spider came from.

Interesting fact: To recover, medieval healers instructed patients to dance until they dropped the Italian tarantella dance, which also originated in Taranto, located in southern Italy. Doctors believed that only this would save those bitten from death. There is a version that all this was arranged for feasts hidden from the eyes of the authorities.

The genus belongs to the phylum arthropods and has 221 subspecies. The most famous of them is the Apulian tarantula. In the 15th century, its poison was believed to cause madness and a variety of epidemiological diseases. It has now been proven that the toxin has no effect on humans. The South Russian tarantula lives in Russia and Ukraine and is known for its black cap.

Interesting fact: The species Lycosa aragogi, found in Iran, is named after the huge spider Aragog from the books about the young wizard “Harry Potter”.

In many European languages, the word tarantula refers to tarantulas. This leads to confusion when translating texts from foreign languages, in particular from English. In modern biology, groups of tarantulas and tarantulas do not intersect. The former belong to araneomorphic spiders, the latter to mygalomorphic ones.

What to do if you are bitten?

After a tarantula bite, you must immediately provide first aid to the victim. It is very important to slow down the spread of poison throughout the body and speed up its elimination.

If a child or person prone to developing allergies suffers from an arachnid attack, it is necessary to immediately consult a doctor.

Signs of a bite

Usually a person feels that he has been bitten by a tarantula. The sensation is approximately the same as a hornet sting: a painful, burning sting. The local reaction manifests itself as follows:

• two obvious cheliceral bites;
• redness and swelling of the affected skin area;
• painful burning at the site of the bite, less often itching;
• the temperature of the skin near the wound increases.

Some victims after a bite experience dizziness, weakness, and an increased pulse rate.

The body of allergy sufferers reacts much more strongly to tarantula venom. They may experience:

• a sharp increase in temperature;
• headache;
• muscle pain;
• severe swelling;
• low pressure;
• nausea;
• numbness of the limbs;
• wheezing.

In severe cases, anaphylactic shock develops and the victim may die, so immediate medical attention should be provided.

First aid for a bite

Providing first aid to a victim of a tarantula bite is as follows:

• thoroughly rinse the bite site with clean water;
• treat the wound with an antiseptic;
• apply a cold compress to the affected area.

If the pain is severe, you can take a painkiller, and to prevent the development of an allergic reaction, you can take an antihistamine.

After a tarantula bite, it is very important for a person to remain at rest and drink plenty of hot liquids. This will speed up the removal of toxins and alleviate the general condition.

What not to do?

To avoid serious consequences after a tarantula bite, you should not:

• warm up the bite site;
• try to squeeze out the poison (then its spread will only accelerate);
• comb or cut the skin on the affected area.

As for the advice to smear the wound with the blood of an attacking spider, it is very dubious.

Indeed, the blood of a tarantula is an antidote to its poison, but if you apply the blood of a killed arthropod to an open wound, an infection can be introduced into the body, which will lead to the development of serious complications.

Appearance and features

Photo: Poisonous tarantula spider

The entire body of the spider is covered with small hairs. The structure of the body is divided into two main parts - the abdomen and the cephalothorax. There are 4 pairs of eyes on the head, 2 of which are small and arranged in a straight line, the rest form a trapezoid by their arrangement.

Video: Tarantula spider

This placement allows you to see everything around in a 360-degree view. In addition to a well-developed visual apparatus, tarantulas have a hypersensitive sense of smell. This gives them the opportunity to smell prey at fairly large distances.

The sizes of arthropods are quite large:

• body length - 2-10 cm;
• leg length - 30 cm;
• females weigh up to 90 g.

Like other insects, female spiders are significantly larger than males. Throughout their lives, individuals molt several times. The more often this happens, the faster they age. On four pairs of long, hairy legs, the spider moves comfortably across sand or water surfaces. The forelimbs of males are more developed than those of females.

Interesting fact: The limbs can only bend, so the wounded individual becomes weak and vulnerable. The legs bend thanks to the flexor muscles, and extend under the pressure of the hemolymph. The skeleton of arachnids is also weak, so any fall could be their last.

Chelicerae (mandibles) are equipped with poisonous ducts. Thanks to them, arthropods can defend themselves or attack. The color of spiders is usually gray, brown or black. Sexual dimorphism is well developed. American tarantulas are considered the largest. Their European counterparts are significantly smaller in size.

Where does the tarantula spider live?

Photo: Tarantula spider from the Red Book

The habitats of the species are represented by a wide range - the southern part of Eurasia, North Africa, Australia, Central and Asia Minor, America. Representatives of the genus can be found in Russia, Portugal, Italy, Ukraine, Spain, Austria, Mongolia, Romania, and Greece. Arthropods choose arid areas to live.

They live mainly in:

• deserts;
• steppes;
• semi-deserts;
• forest-steppes;
• gardens;
• vegetable gardens;
• on the fields;
• meadows;
• along the banks of rivers.

Tarantulas are heat-loving arachnids, so they cannot be found in cold northern latitudes. Individuals are not particularly picky about their habitats, so they even live in saline steppes. Some manage to get into houses. Distributed in Turkmenistan, the Caucasus, Southwestern Siberia, and Crimea.

Most predatory spiders prefer to live in burrows that they dig themselves. They choose the location for their future home very carefully. The depth of vertical burrows can reach 60 centimeters. They move the pebbles to the side and rake out the soil with their paws. The walls of the tarantula's shelter are covered with cobwebs. It vibrates and allows you to assess the situation outside.

At the end of autumn, spiders prepare for wintering and deepen their homes to a depth of 1 meter. The entrance to the hole is plugged with leaves and branches. In the spring, animals crawl out of the house and drag the web behind them. If it suddenly breaks, there is a high probability that the animal will no longer find its shelter and will have to dig a new hole.

Now you know where the tarantula spider lives. Let's see what the poisonous spider eats.

What does the tarantula spider eat?

Photo: Tarantula spider in Russia

Tarantulas are real predators. They wait for their victims from an ambush, and then quickly pounce on them.

The diet of arthropods includes many insects and amphibians:

• Zhukov;
• caterpillars;
• cockroaches;
• mole cricket;
• crickets;
• ground beetles;
• small frogs.

Having caught prey, the arachnids inject their poison into it, thereby paralyzing it. When the poison begins to act, the victim's internal organs turn into a liquid substance, which after some time the tarantulas suck out like a cocktail.

Typically, predators select prey according to their size and spread out their food intake over several days. Individuals can go without food for a long time, but having a constant source of water is a must. There is a known case where a female tarantula was able to go without food for two years.

Near the burrow, arachnids pull signal threads. As soon as they feel that someone is crawling past their home, they immediately crawl out and grab the prey. If the prey turns out to be large, the predator jumps back and jumps on it again to bite it again.

If the prey tries to retreat, the spider chases it for up to half an hour, occasionally inflicting new bites. All this time he tries to stay at a safe distance from the victim. Usually at the end of the battle the animal gets its way and gets a well-deserved lunch.

Poisonous or not?

One of the most important questions related to tarantulas is whether they are poisonous or not, are they dangerous to humans? Despite a lot of legends , a lot of misinformed people and confusion with other types of spiders, the tarantula is believed to be dangerous. Yes, the spider is poisonous, and its poison can kill, but only animals. A tarantula cannot harm a person, and its bite will be similar to the sting of a bee or hornet. Moreover, the tarantula will not look for you and attack, despite the fact that it is a predator. You can provoke him to attack only by invading his territory or destroying his house (banal self-defense).

It is important to understand that
you should not deliberately ask for an attack from a spider that is unknown to you.
At certain times of the year, for example, in spring, at this time the venom of spiders gains strength (it is more toxic) and some individuals with their bite can lead to unpleasant consequences. An infected person may experience nausea, dizziness, and the like (not fatal, but creepy and unpleasant). The degree of danger varies depending on the time of year:

• Spring - at this time spiders wake up and have a rather weak poison;
• Summer - they are completely awake, the poison intensifies several times;
• Autumn - the strength of the poison declines again due to the approaching hibernation.

Features of character and lifestyle

Photo: Tarantula spider

Tarantulas, unlike their counterparts, do not spin webs. They are active hunters and prefer to catch prey on their own. They use webs as traps to find out about a beetle or other insect running past. Weaves can warn of approaching danger.

The arthropods sit in the hole all day, and in the evening they emerge from the shelter to hunt. With the onset of cold weather, they seal the entrance to their cave and hibernate. Among the individuals there are real long-livers. Some subspecies can exist up to 30 years. The main part of the species lives on average 3-10 years. Females have a longer lifespan.

The growth of the spider does not stop at any stage of development. Therefore, their exoskeleton changes several times as they grow older. This allows the animal to regrow lost limbs. With the next moult, the leg will grow back, but will be much smaller than the rest of the limbs. After the next molt, it will reach normal size.

Interesting fact: Spiders mostly move on the ground, but sometimes they climb trees or other objects. Tarantulas have claws on their paws, which they, like cats, extend to have better grip on the surface on which they climb.

Varieties

In total, more than 200 varieties of arthropods of this species can be found in nature. We will look at the most common types of tarantulas, where they are found, and what appearance is typical for them.

• Apulian. Its size is about 7 cm, males have a uniform color, while in females it is more varied and combined. The cephalothorax is combined, there is a light stripe, the abdomen is red in color, on which there are several stripes with a white-red border. They live in the mountains, where they create burrows up to 60 cm, and the entrance is always lined with leaves. This species of arthropod does not spin webs. During the day they sit inside the hole, where at night they can get food, or they leave the hole to hunt. Before cold weather, they seal the entrance to the house with dry grass and hibernate. After the onset of puberty, subject to natural habitat, females live no more than 5 years, males - a maximum of 3 years. The question of where they are widespread is difficult to answer. As a rule, these are Egypt, Italy, Libya, etc.
• Mizgir. Where it lives - in fields, gardens. Found in Russia and Ukraine. Dimensions – up to 35 cm, females are larger than males. The color depends on the color of the soil where the spider lives, so you can find dark brown, brown, or red specimens. There is a dark spot on the head. They dig themselves small holes up to 50 cm, where they line the holes with a special wall made of soil, grass, and plants. When molting begins, the spider closes the entrance to the hole with cobwebs or soil, the same thing happens in winter, when cold weather sets in. To catch prey, these spiders do not weave webs, but hunt small insects and climb into holes, where they guard their prey. Life expectancy is up to 5 years.
• Lycosa narbonensis. Quite large, their size can reach 6 cm. The color is black, the paws are long and covered with hairs. Where they live - most often it is Malta, Italy, Spain.
• Spanish tarantula. They feed on small invertebrates; spiders tend to feed on representatives of their own species. Where they live: in Europe and northern Africa.
• Brazilian tarantula. It has 8 eyes, the size excluding paws is up to 3 cm. They have a brown color, a stripe on the head, which smoothly turns into a light yellow color at the top of the back. Where the abdomen is located, the stripe turns into an arrow pointing forward. The abdomen is black. Paws are brown-red. They feed on cockroaches, crickets and small spiders. Where they live: in America, Argentina.
• Lycosa poliostoma. Common in meadows and gardens. During the day they hide in the steppes, in the meadows they create holes for themselves. They hunt at night. They feed on spiders and small insects. If you do not take into account the legs, the length of the arthropod is 3 cm. They are brown in color. There is a stripe on the head, the shade of which is lighter than the main color. They differ from the Brazilian tarantula in that their color is lighter, but there is also a stripe on the abdomen that smoothly turns into an arrow shape. The lower abdomen is black. A characteristic feature of representatives of this species is that females have shorter legs than males, but they are also larger, as is common in tarantulas. Where they live: America, Brazil.
• Lycosa leuckarti. Their color is gray-brown. The maximum length excluding the legs in females is about 1.2 cm, males are smaller - 0.9 cm. Where they live: Australia.
• Lycosa coelestis. On average, the length of individuals is 13 mm. They are brown in color, with 2 dark stripes on the back, which are located longitudinally. The abdomen is painted black. Where they live: in Japan

Social structure and reproduction

Photo: Poisonous tarantula spider

The period of sexual activity occurs in the last month of summer. The male weaves a web, after which he begins to rub his belly against it. This provokes ejaculation of seminal fluid, which flows onto the web. The male plunges his pedipalps into it, which absorb sperm and become ready for fertilization.

Next comes the stage of searching for a female. Having found a suitable candidate, the male emits vibrations with his abdomen and performs ritual dances, which attracts females. They lure out hiding females by tapping their paws on the ground. If the partner reciprocates, the spider inserts its pedipalps into her cloaca and fertilization occurs.

Then the male quickly retreats so as not to become food for his chosen one. The female weaves a cocoon in the hole in which she lays eggs. Their number can reach 50-2000 pieces at a time. The female carries the offspring on herself for another 40-50 days. The hatched babies move from the mother's abdomen to the back and remain there until they are able to hunt on their own.

The spiderlings grow quickly and soon begin to taste the prey caught by their mother. After the first moult they scatter. By 2-3 years, predators become sexually mature. During this period, arthropods lose their instinct of self-preservation and are easy to meet in broad daylight.

Biological certificate

Now let's move on to a description of the tarantula, the characteristics of its behavior, nutrition and reproduction, and give it a brief description as a representative of the animal world.

Scientific classification and lifestyle

The genus of tarantulas belongs to the wolf spider family. They live mainly in burrows, in which they spend all daylight hours, and at night they go out hunting. These arthropods also weave a web, but they use it not as a trapping net, but as a decoration for the walls of their underground apartments and for arranging an oviposition cocoon.

Tarantulas are often confused with tarantula spiders, which is greatly facilitated by the fact that in some languages ​​the word “tarantula” is used to refer to representatives of this family, and even if we ignore the differences in size, these arthropods are similar to each other.

The main difference between the two families is the structure and functioning of the chylicerae. In wolves they move towards each other, in tarantulas they move in parallel.

Description

What does a tarantula look like? These are quite large spiders, reaching a leg span of 30 centimeters. Males are always slightly smaller than females. The bodies of spiders are covered with hairs of gray, brown or brown color, depending on the species.

The largest sizes are tarantulas representing South America; their European relatives rarely exceed a body length of five centimeters.

An interesting question is about the organs of vision of representatives of this family. Curious lovers of the animal world are often interested in how many eyes a tarantula has. We answer - he has eight of them, which allows you to view the entire panorama around both horizontally and vertically.

Nutrition

It is also important to know what tarantulas eat. This is especially true for those lovers of arthropods who are going to breed them in their own apartment

And what, as the character in “The Twelve Chairs” said: “Who cares for a mare!”

So, the night hunter feeds on everything that is shorter. It could be an insect, an arachnid of another species, or even small mammals and birds. Digestion in tarantulas, like many other spiders, is external. First, the predator introduces poison and digestive juices into the body of the victim, which decompose the tissues of the victim, and only then absorbs the digested substrate.

Spreading

The question of where tarantulas are found is the most popular among arachnophobes, people who are afraid of spiders. In this regard, residents of central Russia and regions with similar or more severe climatic conditions can rest easy. Here the tarantula can only be found in various zoos and apartments of enthusiasts and Spider-Man fans.

But in the south of our country, our neighboring states, the south of Europe, the African, Asian and American continents, tarantulas are found in large numbers.

Reproduction

Tarantula spiders reproduce like representatives of other spider families, but they still have their own characteristics. First of all, this is the famous mating dance, by which the spider recognizes the male of its own species. In general, the mating process can be divided into the following stages:

1. At the end of summer, the male decides that it is time to extend his tarantula lineage and goes in search of a female.
2. Having found the intended bride, he begins to perform a ritual dance.
3. She, in turn, takes a closer look at the gentleman, and if she decides that he is the man of her dreams and belongs to the same species, she begins to respond to him, copying the dance steps.
4. After such identification, mating itself occurs, after which the groom hurries to quickly retreat before the missus decides to eat him. It must be said that in this respect, male tarantulas are more agile than representatives of the male population of other spiders.

Next, the female finds a burrow suitable for wintering, where she spends the entire winter. With the onset of spring, she crawls out of her home and exposes her abdomen to the warm rays of the young sun.

In the female’s body, warmed by the warmth of the sun, eggs begin to form, up to 700 eggs depending on the species. At the end of this process, the female weaves a cocoon from the web directly on her stomach, where she places the formed eggs.

So she carries her offspring on herself until the young begin to hatch. Sensing this moment, the young mother gnaws through the cocoon and releases her children into the wild.

However, the babies do not leave their mother, but move onto her back, where she carries them until they learn to feed themselves.

Natural enemies of tarantula spiders

Photo: Black tarantula spider

The tarantula has quite a few enemies. The main culprits in the death of arthropods are birds, since they are part of the diet of birds. Wasps encroach on the life of arachnids, just as spiders do with their victims. They inject poison into the tarantula's body, paralyzing the predator.

They then lay eggs inside the spider. Parasites live and develop, after which they get out. Natural enemies include some types of ants and mantises, which are not at all picky about food and eat everything that moves. Frogs and lizards are not averse to eating tarantulas.

The most dangerous enemy is still the same spider. Arthropods tend to eat each other. A female, during the process of fertilization, can encroach on the life of a male individual, like a female praying mantis, or eat her offspring if she cannot trap some insect.

There is continuous hostility between tarantulas and mole crickets. Their habitats overlap. Mole crickets dig the soil, where spiders often climb. Sometimes individuals manage to escape. Wounded or molting arthropods usually become food for the enemy.

In general, the population suffers most in early spring. When lethargic and sleepy arachnids crawl out of their shelters, the mole cricket is right there. Sometimes they climb into spider holes and attack tarantulas with their forelimbs, delivering heavy blows. When the spider loses a lot of blood, the mole cricket eats it.

Individuals

The cross spider looks at the world around it with eight eyes. He hunts at night, and therefore the work of his organs of vision resembles the work of a video camera operating in night mode. But if the camera perceives infrared light, then the spider's eyes perceive polarized radiation.

The jumping spider, which has eight eyes arranged in three rows, is able to determine the distance to an object. He measures the exact distance with his front main eyes. They consist of four photosensitive layers. When hunting, they help him aim accurately. Arachnologists have even established that horses can distinguish colors.

In the photo: Araneus diadematus

Cave spiders are practically blind and rely as much as possible on other senses. Orb-weaving spiders have the smallest eyes. For example, Araneus diadematus simply senses movement when prey gets caught in its web.

Population and species status

Photo: Tarantula spider

Tarantulas are most common in forest-steppe, steppe and desert areas. Their numbers are gradually decreasing every year, but over the past ten years, wolf spiders have managed to stop the process of population decline and even stabilize it. Climate warming has had a beneficial effect on this.

One of the main reasons for the decline in arthropod numbers is commercial activity. In third world countries, arachnids are caught in order to sell them for little money and earn food. In countries with less developed economies, there has been a significant decline in the number of tarantulas.

From 1995 to 2004 in the Republic of Tatarstan, the species was recorded in the Nizhnekamsk, Elabuga, Zelenodolsk, Tetyushsky, Chistopol, and Almetyevsk regions, where its appearance was recorded from 3 to 10 times. Mostly, individuals are found alone.

Tropical forests are being cut down at a significant rate due to population growth. In Bolivia and Brazil, artisanal methods of gold and diamond mining are used, which destroys the soil. Water is pumped underground, as a result of which the integrity of the earth's surface is damaged. This, in turn, leads to negative consequences for the existence of the animal world.

Associations

Looking at photos of amazing creatures, you get the feeling that they came from other planets. Their eyes differ in functionality and size.

With the help of modern cameras, you can see the color up close, as well as the location of the eyes on the body. Some have one row, others three, or even four.

By the way, on our website thebiggest.ru you can find out what the largest spider in the world is.

The science that studies these mysterious and slightly terrifying creatures is called arachnology. Brave people study them, since most residents of cities and towns are afraid and have a negative attitude towards arachnid creatures. For some, it is not even the spider itself that causes irresistible fear, but even its image. They are widely represented in culture, and their images are found on vases of the Sumerian kingdom and on the walls of the tombs of Ancient Egypt. The editors of TheBiggest.ru website ask all people who care about spiders to write a comment about this article. How much do you like or dislike spider eyes and do you find them unpleasant and scary? And below we will post some more beautiful photos of spider eyes.

That's all! But for those who don’t get enough, on our Zen channel we continue to publish photos of spider eyes.