Diet

What does the Desert Blond Tarantula eat?

The desert blond tarantula is a carnivore which will feed on a range of invertebrates.

These animals have little requirement for water.

Learn more about the Desert Blond Tarantula in this video from Nat Geo WILD on YouTube

Range

Where do you find the Desert Blond Tarantula?

North America is the native home of the desert blond tarantula. Their range takes in part of southern Arizona, California and northern Mexico.

Habitat

Where can the Desert Blond Tarantula survive?

These animals make their home in desert habitats which are dominated by saguaro.

These animals will shelter in a burrow. This can be between 25 and 50cm (10-20in) long. A number of silk strands will be stretched across the opening to their burrow.

Often they will make use of the abandoned burrows of rodents.

Credit: Chris A. Hamilton, Brent E. Hendrixson, Jason E. Bond, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Reproduction

How does the Desert Blond Tarantula produce its young?

Males begin their mating advances by stroking silk lines at the entrance to her burrow.

During mating the male is at risk as the female may eat him to obtain energy to use while raising their young. As soon as mating is complete he will quickly leave to try and escape this.

Females may retain sperm from a mating to fertilize several clutches of eggs. She can retain this until she next sheds her skin.

While females produce a large number of eggs few of these will reach adulthood.

It takes a long time for a desert blond tarantula to reach maturity. Females achieve this around 10 years old while males achieve this at 10-12 years old.

Males will only live a few months after they mate.

Behavior

What does the Desert Blond Tarantula do during its day?

During winter these animals will plug the entrance to their burrow using soil, rocks and silk. This seals them inside and they will remain largely inactive during the coldest part of the year. They survive during this time using stored fat reserves.

These animals are active by night.

They are considered solitary and will only come together to mate.

Credit: Ondřej Řehák, Czech Republic, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons

Predators and Threats

What stops the Desert Blond Tarantula from surviving and thriving?

These animals are prey for tarantula hawk wasps. These inject the spider with poison and paralyze it. It will then be dragged back to the wasps burrow where the wasp will lays its egg in the tarantula. The eggs hatch and this spider becomes their first food source.

During summer large numbers of males are seen crossing roads as they attempt to find a mate making them vulnerable to vehicle strikes.

When threatened these animals can use hairs on their abdomen to defend themselves. They will detach these hairs which have barbs which help to make them stick in the skin of the predator. These are irritating for the threat.

This species is a popular pet in some areas of the world.

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Quick facts

They may also be known as the desert tarantula, Arizona blond tarantula or the western tarantula.

Their species name, chalcodes, is taken from the word chalco meaning 'brass.' This is in reference to their blond hairs.

Credit: Snake collector, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons