### animal | arthropod | spider:

Tarantula
* All tarantulas are furry
  - can make silk
  - smell with their feet
  - undergo molting, during which they shed their exoskeletons in order to grow
* Get all the facts about the different speciies and habitats of tarantulas.
* Many Tarantulas live in burrows underground.
* Many tarantulas are brown, while others are multicolored
  - make burrows in soil
  - prefer to live in the ground, instead of in a web or in a tree
* Most tarantulas are relatively harmless, with venom equivalent to a bee sting
  - belong to genus
  - can acclimate to accommodate moderate temperature fluctuations
* Most tarantulas eat animals
  - small animals
  - find in rainforests
* Most tarantulas have abdomens
  - bare abdomens
  - eyesights
  - hard exoskeletons
  - mouths
  - patterns
  - poor eyesights
  - upper abdomens
  - kill animals
* Most tarantulas live for many years
* Most tarantulas live in burrows
  - the tropics
  - possess fangs
  - produce silk
  - reach adulthood
* Most tarantulas rely on instinct
  - senses
* Most tarantulas reside in desert habitats
  - rocky habitats
* Most tarantulas suffer death
  - painful death
* Some tarantulas also live in desserts
  - are easier to care for than others
  - become pets
  - bite people
* Some tarantulas can be as large as a dinner plate
  - go a few months without feeding
  - cross roads
  - detect vibration
  - develop mechanisms
* Some tarantulas eat frogs
  - mice
  - emerge from skin
* Some tarantulas feed on reptiles
  - small reptiles
  - find in deserts
  - get vitamins
  - grow as large as dinner plates
* Some tarantulas have behavior
  - large bodies
  - more toxic venom
  - stripes
  - white stripes
  - lead lifestyle
* Some tarantulas live in underground burrows in well-drained soil
  - lose limbs
  - receive food
  - result in death
  - secrete digestive enzymes
  - submerge cheliceras
  - survive in climates
* Some tarantulas thrive in conditions
  - warm tropical conditions.
  * Some tarantulas hunt prey in trees and some hunt on the ground. All tarantulas can make silk. They use silk to make shelters like tube tents in trees, to line burrows if they live on the ground, and they all use silk to wrap up prey before they eat it. These spiders are found in warmer regions around the world.
  * are eaten by big snakes and the Tarantula eating wasp. Defenses are camouflage and fangs
* also can flick hairs toward an agressor that cause a pruritic dermatitis
  - continue molting after reaching adulthood
  - have silk glands in their feet
  - use urticating hairs to establish their territories, and also for making the cocoon
* always put themselves in the best possible position before they strike.
* are Missouri's largest spider, but also one of the shyest
  - among the largest spiders in the world and perhaps the most feared
  - apples
  - capable of producing silk and can use it for similar purposes, depending on species
  - extremely delicate
  - fairly undemanding creatures to keep, provided that their basic requirements are met
* are found in temperate, desert and tropical habitats worldwide
  - world-wide on every continent except for Antarctica
  - generally non-aggressive
  - incapable to ingest their prey in a solid form
  - invertebrate arachnids
  - large, furry spiders that range from light brown to almost black in color
* are large, hairy spiders found mainly in the tropics
  - that are nocturnal predators
  - native to North Dakota
  - normally long-lived creatures
  - notorious escape artists
  - oviparous
  - predators and eat other invertebrates
  - rather thin-skinned creatures, particularly around the abdomen
  - sensitive to vibrations and hunt at night by touch
  - slow and deliberate movers, but accomplished nocturnal predators
  - tan to reddish brown to black in color with a hairy body and legs
* are the biggest of all of the arachnids
  - type of spider in the world
  - gentle giants of our spider world
  - largest and hairiest spiders in the United States
  - typically far larger than spiders with the most toxic kinds of venom
  - venomous, but many species produce no more of a reaction in people than a bee sting
* are very delicate creatures
  - hairy with sharp bristles
  - large specialized spiders that attract a lot of attention
  - sensitive to chemicals
* attack prey.
* become active in the late afternoon from spring through fall.
* begin life as eggs in egg sacs before hatching and leaving their mothers' burrows.
* can become pets in our homes because they can be tamed
  - go for weeks without food because of their low metabolism rate
  - regenerate lost legs
  - survive for months without feeding
* catch food
* cause burning and itching and maybe a paralysis, but they are never deadly.
* come from all over the world
  - out of their burrows ar dusk
* consume insects.
* defend themselves by throwing needle-like, barbed hairs at their attackers.
  - frogs, small snakes, beetles, lizards, and even bats
  - insects, but also other spiders
  - scorpions, by the way, which can be far more harmful
* extend their legs using blood pressure rather than muscles.
* generally live in burrows or trees.
* give some people the creeps because of their large, hairy bodies and legs.
* go out of their houses and walk around in search for food.
* have a strong sense of revenge
  - varied diet in the wild consisting of both invertebrate and vertebrate prey
  - also been know to eat baby mice and even fish in captivity
  - eight legs
  - enemies
  - fangs that move from side to side
  - few natural enemies, but parasitic pepsis wasps are a formidable exception
  - four slits in their abdomen which absorb oxygen into their blood
  - long, needle-like fangs
  - retractable claws on each leg, like cats
  - strong exteriors known as exoskeletons
  - tails
  - tiny hairs on their abdomens that can cause itching and irritation to humans
* have two million hairs per square centimeter
  - pairs of book lungs
  - typical methods of defense
  - very sensitive bodies and are prone to injury easily
* hawk wasps feed on nectar and pollen.
* hide during the day and hunt at night.
* includes brains
  - carapaces
  - cell membranes
  - cells
  - cytoplasm
  - heads
  - nuclei
  - plasma membranes
  - sections
  - shells
  - skulls
  - thoraxes
  - vacuoles
* inject a paralysing venom into prey with their large fangs
  - their venom using fangs located on their chelicerea
  - the forests of Chile where they dig burrows in the ground
  - warm areas around the world
  - mainly in burrows in the ground and they only come out to hunt at night
  - mostly in desert areas, feeding on young poisonous snakes
* look frightening but their venom is very mild.
* mainly eat insects and other arthropods, and they can fast for up to a month.
* make interesting pets and can be useful as well.
* molt as many as nine times in some species
  - frequently before maturity, as often as every few weeks when very young
* move quickly for short bursts and inject their prey with venom in order to paralyze it
  - their jaws vertically, or up and down
* occur in a variety of colors, sizes and habitats
  - throughout Texas and are common in grasslands and semi-open areas
* often appear sluggish, but can move quickly when necessary
  - shed their hair repeatedly during their lives
* range in size from only an inch or so to relative giants measuring nearly a foot across.
* reproduce sexually through the joining of sperm and egg.
* take several years to reach full size.
* undergo a series of such molts at various developmental stages.
* use blood pressure, as well as muscles, to move their legs.
* use their legs to flick the loose hairs on their backs toward predators
  - venom to dissolve their prey into a liquid to be sucked up like soup
* usually live in burrows in the ground.
* utilize their venom as a secondary line of defense against predators.