Mexican Red Rump Tarantula

Spiders aren’t everyone’s favorite creature, but they fill an important niche in the rainforest ecology. They eat insects, other spiders, centipedes and millipedes. They become victims to pesticides, though, when they eat prey killed by those pesticides.

Our Mexican Red Rump is quite strikingly handsome, with its sooty black legs and red-furred abdomen. It’s leg span might reach 6½” if it’s a female, with males being smaller and thinner. Females lay their eggs in a white sac which they make from webbing. It’s the size of a chicken egg, and she’ll carry it everywhere, protecting it with her very life.

Tarantulas are actually “gentle giants.” Some people keep them as pets, and because of over-hunting, the Mexican Red Rump is considered vulnerable to extinction. PLEASE do not kill these spiders. If you find one in your house, gently usher it outside with a broom; or place a jar over it, slide a piece of cardboard under it, then it take outside for release. Do not toss it into the forest, for the landing is likely to kill it, as tarantulas are heavy and relatively fragile. Read more fascinating facts about tarantulas here.