![]() Despite their well-deserved reputation for cannibalism, some species are now known to be semi social or even colonial. Brazilian wandering spiders ( Phoneutria), six-eyed sand spiders ( Sicarius) and Australian funnel-web spiders ( Atrax and Hadronyche) provide an endless supply of internet clickbait. Crab spiders (Thomisidae) amaze us with their floral mimicries. Black widows ( Latrodectus) dispense both excuses for unexplained, persistent skin ulcers as well as easy metaphors for crime fiction writers. Tarantulas often show vividly contrasting or metallic colors (mostly blues and violets), females are usually long-lived (to ~20 years), and some species exhibit remarkable physical abilities and learning behaviors. This is a fascinating group of arthropod predators (although one remarkable Mesoamerican jumping spider species– Bagheera kiplingii–is a sometime vegan) that includes some incredibly beautiful animals. This uneasy relationship with them does not, however, negatively bias my opinions about spiders when they’re not skating over my forearm or neck. Despite being (usually) innocuous, very interesting and complex critters, I have never been entirely comfortable sharing my close personal space with spiders if I’m not calling the shots. I must admit that, even after working with tarantulas, scorpions, amblypygids and sundry other strange arachnids over the years both in the field and in captivity, large spiders still give me a small case of the willies. There are even some who not only claim to “love” their stand-offish pets but also give them names. You betcha! While most of the world either fears, loathes or are indifferent to them, there are a surprising number of folks around the globe that collect live exotic spiders in their homes. The first-hand account by Henry Walter Bates that inspired this illustration was the first real evidence provided by a respected naturalist that many theraphosid spiders will prey on birds and other small vertebrates. Shown above, Edward William Robinson’s classic engraving of an Avicularia avicularia feeding on birds in “The Naturalist on the River Amazons” (1863). ![]()
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