Tarantulas!

When most people think of spiders, the first thing that usually comes to mind is the tarantula. Its big, its fluffy...its fierce. Because of its large size, it is one of the most commonly used spiders in movies, TV, or commercials. If you ever seen the movie Indiana Jones, you'll remember the scene in the opening of the film where Indy and his assistant get covered in tarantulas going for the Golden Idol. Or, if you've seen Arachnophobia, where they fall from the trees during a scene canopy fogging and are used profusely in the movie trailer.

  Tarantulas are even so well known that they have their own movie, made in 1955 and bears their name as title. For more information about this movie, check out the IMDB site here.

    All of these movies take advantage of a human's innate fear of spiders, which has been actually found to be partially genetically based. A study at the anxiety disorder clinic at Sydney University in Australia found that some fears, like fears of snakes or heights, might be genetically inherited to prevent us from harm. Super big spiders, like tarantulas, are some of the strongest triggers for this fear if you have it, and that is why they are used so frequently. They super-size the shock!
    However, not everyone has an inherent fear of tarantulas, and they are really not as fearsome as people would like to believe.  For their large size they are really fast runners, especially when they are running away from something scaring them. Their bite will not kill humans (unless you are allergic to them), and for most of the time they hang out hiding in their webs on the ground. Tarantulas can be found in lots of places across the world, but mostly in desert areas and the tropics. Because they also can be fairly attractive spiders, ranging from pink haired ones to blue, they can also be popular pets. They mostly feed on insects, though some larger spiders in the Old-World tropics have been recorded catching birds and other vertebrates!
     Here in Oklahoma, though, the native tarantulas are mostly brown. This past weekend I was in Black Mesa with the Mammalogy department and found this male tarantula crawling around looking for a female spider. In the fall many male spiders go out in a massive "migration" to look for females.

Male tarantula from Black Mesa. You can tell its a male because of the "fat" pair of structures that look like legs in front of its head area, called the pedipalps.

 Many tarantulas in the tropics are also brown too. This spider I found near a 2000m site in Costa Rica where I was helping to sample frogs.

Smaller, female tarantula from Costa Rica. Note the darker coloration of the "head" (cephalothorax) area

     While I don't suggest you pick up a wild tarantula to put on your hand for a photo like I did, its important to note that these spiders are actually pretty mellow and nothing really to fear! If you don't threaten them, they don't threaten you, and they are doing their own thing. If you were born without a fear of spiders, I encourage you to check these guys out because they are a really neat group of spiders.
      If you'd like more information about tarantulas, check out this nice fact sheet! Have a good one everyone!