Tarantulas
Tarantulas
Theraphosidae
Arachnida
COMMON

Stats

Lifespan
Up to 30 yrs
Size
Huge
Diet
Carnivore
Activity
Nocturnal
Social
Solitary
Biome
Tropical rainforest
Range
Worldwide
Movement
Walking
Breeding
Egg-laying
Defense
Venom
Status
Common

About

A large, hairy-legged spider family found on every continent except Antarctica, ranging from desert burrowers to tree-dwelling giants. Tarantulas can flick urticating hairs from their abdomen as a defense against predators instead of relying solely on their bite.

Life cycle

  1. 1.
    egg sac
    A silk-wrapped egg sac shelters a clutch of eggs until the young are ready to emerge.
  2. 2.
    juvenile
    A spiderling emerges from the egg sac already in miniature adult form and starts catching prey almost immediately.
  3. 3.
    subadult
    A near-adult arachnid molts through several instars, growing larger and developing mature markings.
  4. 4.
    adult
    Fully grown after its final molt.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Arthropoda
Class
Arachnida
Order
Araneae
Family
Theraphosidae