While walking in a garden near the town of San Ignacio, Belize, a gardener asked if we would like to see a spider. We must have looked like bug geeks. Not wanting to disappoint, we expressed our genuine delight at the prospect. She directed us to a hole beneath a stone and with some prodding with a twig we produced a rather large and grumpy tarantula from its burrow. Tarantulas are named after Taranto, a city in southeastern Italy on the Ionian Sea. In the 15th through 17th centuries a legend was told about the fearsome bite of the Italian tarantula that caused a condition known as tarantism. Tarantism caused the unfortunate victim to become excitable and restless and imparted an uncontrollable urge to dance. One recommended cure for the disease was to engage in a frenzied whirling dance called the Tarantella that could last several days. Yikes! Talk about Saturday night fever. The culprit behind this mischief was actually a wolf spider, Lycosa tarantula, locally known as a tarantula. Wolf spiders such as the one we met in "Who's that spider in my bed?" belong to a family known as Lycosidae. True tarantulas such as the one we encountered under a rock in Belize belong to a family of large hairy spiders know as Theraphosidae. Tarantulas have extraordinary size and some measure almost a foot from tip to tip of their extended legs. They have remarkable longevity and can live in excess of thirty years. Their bite is memorable by virtue of some very large fangs curled beneath the head of the spider. Fortunately, the bite of most true tarantulas is not very venomous and usually results in a bit of localized swelling, pain, and itching rather than a wretched death. Tarantulas are primarily nocturnal hunters of insects, other spiders, and small reptiles. However, some of the larger and agile species capture small mammals and birds. Tarantulas usually sit and wait in or near their burrow until a victim comes near. Sensing vibration and motion they pounce. After subduing their prey they grind it into a ball, secrete digestive enzymes into the pulpy mass, and suck the liquefied contents into their mouth. Tarantulas have one of the most interesting mating rituals of any animal in the rainforest. The male tarantula is much smaller than his mate and to complete his task of siring a brood of young he places his life at risk in the presence of the dangerous female. To complete his mission, the male tarantula constructs a thin web on which he deposits sperm. Small leg-like appendages called pedipalps located near his jaws are used to pick up the sperm and carry it about. When he encounters a potential mate, a spidery dance ensues complete with drumming, waggling of legs, and other gambols. This dance helps the spiders recognize each other as members of the same species. With the preliminary introductions out of the way, the male warily approaches the female and does his best not to get eaten. The male tarantula is equipped with special claws on his front legs that help him grasp the female's fangs while he uses his pedipalps to carefully place sperm into a pouch on her underside. Sometimes the male escapes this romantic encounter, but sometimes he does not and he becomes dinner instead. The female tarantula lays several hundred to more than a thousand eggs in a silken cocoon. These eggs are carefully tended by the mother who may help the youngsters escape from the cocoon when the time is right. These large juicy arthropods seem like a tempting meal for other critters in the jungle. However, the tarantula has a potent defense. The abdomen of many tarantulas is covered with a dense coat of hairs. When disturbed or threatened, the tarantula can expel these hairs from its body by rubbing them off with the legs. These irritating hairs can lodge in the eyes or nasal passages of a would-be predator and thereby thwart an attack. If you have a pet tarantula, be careful not to irritate it and please don't hold it near your face.

We thank Lee Hellman for sticking his hand down the tarantula's burrow in Belize. Much of the information for this Bug of the Week came from Jerry G. Well's delightful book "The Guide to Owning a Tarantula". For more information on tarantulas, please visit the following web sites.

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