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Aphonopelma hentzi
Creepy, crawly and they jump! (Even though they are pretty harmless, I jump too when I see them unless I have my camera.) Oh...see notes. Tarantulas have eight legs and two shorter leg-like appendages in front called the pedipalps. In mature males, the pedipalps are swollen with the reproductive organs. In females and immature tarantulas of both sexes, the pedipalps look like small walking legs. Additionally, mature males have little hooks or spurs on the underside of their front pair of legs, at the base of the tibial segment (i.e., the third segment up from the "foot", or the long segment after the short patella, or "knee").
North America throughout Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, southern Kansas and Missouri, and northwestern Louisiana and other adjoining areas in the U.S. and Northeast Mexico. [1][2] The spider can also be found in Colorado, and has been observed as far north as Denver.[3] They are commonly found in grasslands, burrowed under ground; or using logs, stones, or other small animal's abandoned dens as their home and feeding grounds. Texas Brown tarantulas will use their spinnerets to line the entrance of their shelter with webbing so as to detect passing prey. Tarantula are often restricted to the ground but can climb.
Did you know the females can live 30+ years?! Amazing. From http://www.ou.edu/oupd/pertara.htm regarding those who want to capture them: The best advice: Just enjoy viewing them as local wildlife without picking them up, no matter how cute you find them. It would be a shame to accidentally kill one of these nice spiders who, without your intervention, might live 10, 20, or thirty years... Ok, really? "no matter how CUTE you find them." I'd rather pick up a cute little snake with rattlers on it's tail! (An Arachnophobia sufferer speaking here.)
Spotted on Jan 23, 2013
Submitted on Jan 23, 2013
4 Comments
Haha I can understand! Yeah a lot of females of certain species can live that long. They won't always make it to 30+, but it just depends.
I looked for them too and didn't see any. Now, understand, I looked at my pics and had to use my zoom to take the pics of the spider. Doesn't bother me at all to get up close and personal to snakes, wasps, bees, rats, bats, etc. but spiders ......nope, ain't happening. I was very surprised to read the life-span of the female.
I couldn't tell did it have tibial hooks?
I see these guys sometimes when the males are crossing roads looking for females. I have 6 captive tarantulas myself, and like the OU link said, it is better to leave them in the wild. 4 of my tarantulas were captive bred, and I'm not sure about the other two. If someone wants to get a tarantula, try looking online or at a reptile expo (pet stores can be unreliable about information and usually sell WC tarantulas). Anyway nice pics probably a wandering male. :)