Tarantulas in Acapulco, Guerrero

Tarantulas in Guererro

The poor Tarantula has a terrible reputation, and must be up there as one of the most feared and misunderstood of all animals. They are really, shy, and relatively defenseless things that have been about for as much as 265 million years. Although you may be reluctant to believe it, there is not a single record of anyone dying from a tarantula bite in this country since records began. The tarantula is nocturnal setting out at night to hunt . It's prey is usually insects, but it might find the odd small rodent or baby bird.

Should you chance upon a tarantula by day (usually they can be seen crossing the road) It is probably a male in search of a bit of nooky. The females are inclined to stay in their holes which could be in the ground or a tree. The adult male does not live much longer than eighteen months, but the female can live for up to twenty years, and it takes her eight to ten years to reach sexual maturity. So think long and hard about squashing one of either sex (as if you could tell the difference). The mating process is not a deeply joyous experience and involves a fierce fight. The male has to keep the female at a distance by means of structures on its front legs called tibia hooks, in order to prevent himself from being eaten. This also allows him access to her genitalia, which are to be found under her abdomen. The male deposits his sperm there using the tips of his pedipalpus where his sexual organ is located. Having dealt with this the male needs to make a swift and nimble exit, and the sperm will be stored there until the following summer when the female wakes up from her hibernation. Only then will she look for a suitable place to make her nest..

The female lays between 600 and 1,200 eggs, of which about half will hatch. Then begin three stages of growth - the infant, the juvenile and then the adult. The infants will shed their skin a couple of times in their first year. Should they make it to adulthood, they will only shed it once a year. Because of their short lives, males frequently don't even have the luxury of changing their skin. All the big, hairy, heavy spiders come under the family of Theraphosidae and, in Mexico, there are a total of 111 species of tarantulas, of the most abundant are the aphonopelma and brachypelma. They can be found all over the country, but there are more, obviously, in the tropical and desert regions. It is important to note that nearly all tarantulas of the brachypelma species are in danger of extinction. This is possibly due to the fact that they are among the most colorful, which makes them favorite pets. Also, they are less well camouflaged and so more easily visible to their predators, which include birds, rodents, weasels and especially a particularly unkind wasp which lays her eggs on the tarantula's body so the larvae get a good start in life by eating their host alive. Ants are particularly fond of new laid tarantula eggs. Tarantulas have a reasonably well-developed set of defense systems; the best known is, of course, it's notorious bite. Which I must again remind you IS NOT FATAL. Less known is the fact that the hairs on the upper part of the abdomen can at worse sting or at least cause uncomfortable irritation according to the species and the sensitivity of the attacker. They also use these hairs to protect the entrance of their holes. Should they find themselves cornered, the first defense tactic is to rear up and show the size of their teeth, Should that fair they will throw themselves at the attacker and rub their hair all over them. All spiders have eight eyes, set in different ways depending on the species, but to make matters particularly difficult Tarantulas are almost blind. To locate and capture their prey, they rely on vibrations sensed through their feet and can pick up the slightest current of air with their hairs. They build webs, which are not generally used for capturing their prey, instead they are used for reproductive purposes, and to camouflage the nest entrance.

As both hunter and hunted, tarantulas have an important place in the ecological balance, leave them alone, they have enough enemies without having to be beaten up and murdered by a hysterical maid with a broom. So, they look like something out of your worst nightmare… but they do not behave that way at all.

They are also very boring pets, even if they are good for scaring Granny, they don't do much.

Types of tarantula found in Guerrero include the Mexican pink tarantulas (Brachypelma Klaasi), see above, plus:

Guerrero orange-legged tarantula (Brachypelma Boehmei)

Mexican red-kneed tarantula (Brachypelma Smithi)