How many spiders does a spider give birth to? Black and white spiders in the house: how do they reproduce and what do they eat? Chemical preparations for arthropods - which ones to choose

Order: Araneae = Spiders

The reproduction biology of spiders, in terms of the complexity and originality of the observed phenomena, surpasses everything that is characteristic of other arachnids, and this is again due to the use of the web.

Sexually mature male spiders are usually very different from females in their lifestyle and appearance, although in some cases males and females are similar. Usually the male is smaller than the female, with relatively more long legs, and sometimes males are dwarf, 1000-1500 times smaller in volume than females. In addition to size, sexual dimorphism is often manifested in certain secondary sexual characteristics: in the bright pattern of males, in the special shape of individual pairs of legs, etc. Males, as a rule, are found less frequently than females, and in some species they are not found at all. At the same time, the virgin development of eggs in spiders appears to be a rare exception. In tenet spiders, sexually mature males usually no longer build trapping nets, but wander around in search of females and are caught in the female’s nets during a short mating period.

The internal organs of the reproductive system of spiders are generally quite normal structure. The testes are paired, convoluted vas deferens are connected near the genital opening, which in the male has the appearance of a small slit. The ovaries are paired, in some cases fused at the ends into a ring. Paired oviducts connect into an unpaired organ - the uterus, which opens with the oviductal opening. The latter is covered by a folded elevation - the epigina. There are seminal receptacles - sacs from which the tubules extend to the excretory part of the genital tract and to the epigyne, where they usually open independently of the ovarian opening.

The copulatory organs are formed on the male's pedipalps only during the last molt. Before mating, the male secretes a drop of sperm from the genital opening onto a specially woven arachnoid mesh, fills the copulatory organs of the pedipalps with sperm, and during mating, with their help, introduces sperm into the seminal receptacles of the female. In the simplest case, on the pedipalp tarsus there is a pear-shaped appendage - a bulbus with a spiral spermatic canal inside (Fig. 35.5). The appendage is extended into a thin spout - an embolus, at the end of which a canal opens. During mating, the embolus is inserted into the female's seminal receptacle. In most cases, the copulatory organs are more complex, and the ways of their complication can be traced within the order and are somewhat different in different groups spiders Usually the tarsus of the pedipalps are enlarged. The articular membrane of the bulbus turns into a blood receptacle, which, at the moment of mating, swells like a bubble under the pressure of the hemolymph. The spermatic canal forms complex loops and opens at the end of a long embolus, tourniquet or other shape. There are often additional appendages that serve for attachment during mating. The structure of copulatory organs in detail is very diverse, characteristic of individual groups and species, and widely used in the taxonomy of spiders.

The male fills the pedipalp bulbs with seed shortly after the last molt. The sperm mesh has a triangular or quadrangular shape and is suspended horizontally. The male immerses the ends of the pedipalps into a drop of sperm secreted onto it. It is believed that sperm penetrates through the narrow canal of the embolus due to capillarity, but it has now been established that at least in forms with complex copulatory organs there is a special seminal suction canaliculus. In some spiders, the male does not make a web, but pulls one or several webs between the legs of the third pair, releases a drop of sperm onto the web and brings it to the ends of the pedipalps. There are also species whose males take sperm directly from the genital opening.

The male, with copulatory organs filled with sperm, goes in search of a female, sometimes covering considerable distances. In doing so, he is guided mainly by his sense of smell. He distinguishes the odorous trail of a mature female on the substrate and her web. In most cases, vision does not play a significant role: males with blurred eyes easily find females.

Having discovered a female, the male begins “courtship”. Almost always, the male’s excitement manifests itself in certain characteristic movements. The male twitches the threads of the female's net with his claws. The latter notices these signals and often rushes at the male as prey, causing him to flee. Persistent “courtship,” sometimes lasting for a very long time, makes the female less aggressive and prone to mating. Males of some species weave small “mating nets” next to the female’s snares, into which they lure the female with rhythmic movements of their legs. In burrow-dwelling spiders, mating occurs in the female's burrow.

In some species, repeated mating with several males and competition between males is observed, which gather on the female’s snares and, trying to get closer to her, fight with each other. The most active one drives away rivals and mates with the female, and after some time another male takes his place, etc...

- These are animals that have aroused both interest and fear in people since ancient times. Each spider is interesting for its unique characteristics of living, obtaining food, and reproducing.

In this article we will cover these topics, consider the reasons for the appearance of cobwebs in our homes and study effective ways removing spiders.

A little about spiders

Today on our planet there is about 40 thousand species of spiders. Only a few of them live in Russia. For the most part, they live in open nature, but quite often they appear in people's homes.

In fact, to live in conditions indoors Only a few species can. Spiders and cobwebs in the house often frighten people, and you should understand that these arthropods are not interested in people, are afraid of them and will never attack first.

Tired of fighting pests?

Are there cockroaches, mice or other pests in your dacha or apartment? We need to fight them! They are carriers of serious diseases: salmonellosis, rabies.

Many summer residents are faced with pests that destroy crops and damage plants.

It has the following properties:

• Gets rid of mosquitoes, cockroaches, rodents, ants, bedbugs
• Safe for children and pets
• Powered by mains, no recharging required
• There is no addictive effect in pests
• Large area of ​​operation of the device

Black and white house spiders

The most common domestic spider species are:

• Haymaker, which has a small body and very long legs, reaching a length of 5 cm.
• Grey house spider .
• Tramp.
• Black house spider. They live in the house and weave tube-shaped webs in the corners, which are a serious trap for its victims. They are quite large in size, their length is about 13 mm. They bite a person extremely rarely, but if this happens, it is very unpleasant and painful, since it can cause such consequences as allergies, swelling, vomiting, dizziness and general malaise bitten.
• White spiders come in various species and live in various countries. For example, in the southern part of Russia, as well as in the countries of the Middle East, you can find karakuta. There is a "white lady" in Africa. IN North America, southern Europe, Japan and Russia is found " flower spider» white. White spiders are rarely found in the house; they, as a rule, live in nature, in the vegetable garden, orchard, in the forest, and their bite is the most dangerous for humans, and can even be fatal.

Many spider lovers keep them specifically to add exoticism to their home, and they can also be classified as domestic. The most famous white spider among such pets is white-haired tarantula.

I regularly inspect my site, and I am very pleased with the results! I really liked that it works for solar battery. I recommend this repeller to everyone."

What do spiders look like?

Each type of spider looks unique. Exotic spiders that live in terrariums usually catch the eye with their impressive size, fleecy surface and bright colors.

House spiders look more modest:

• For example, the haymaker spider has a small body and very long legs, reaching a length of 5 cm.
• Black spiders are black or dark gray in color, measuring approximately 13 mm.
• Gray spiders are very similar to black ones, having the same size.
• The hobo spider is brown and light brown in color, with an elongated abdomen and long legs.

Many species of spiders differ in their speed of movement, web, search for food, and appearance, but they all have the same number of legs - 8 of them.

The limbs of spiders differ in size and cover, but their main functions are common to all types of arthropods:

1. Legs are the spiders' means of transportation. Some have the ability to move by jumping, some use lateral walking, some run on water, and some change locations by stomping loudly.
2. The limbs are carriers of many receptors: smell, touch, balance. They help spiders recognize danger and detect food.
3. The function of the paws is to weave webs. Thanks to this ability, spiders are able to get food.
4. Parent spiders use their tentacles to hold and move their cocoon to another place. It is for these purposes that spiders have this a large number of limbs, which simultaneously serve them as hands, nose, vision and even the so-called “sixth sense”.

Stories from our readers!
"We have always used fertilizers and fertilizers in our garden. The neighbor said that he soaks the seeds using new fertilizer. The seedlings grow strong and strong.

We ordered and followed the instructions. Wonderful results! We didn't expect this! We harvested a wonderful harvest this year, and now we will always use only this product. I recommend trying it."

Types of spiders in Russia

There are quite a few varieties of spiders in Russia, the most common among them are:

1. Serebryanka- This is the only species that lives on and under water. The habitat is marshy reservoirs of Russia. Refers to poisonous spiders.
2. Cross spider, living in temperate climate, on the grass and branches of bushes and trees. It has a cross-shaped pattern at the top of the abdomen. Not dangerous to humans.
3. South Russian tarantula- lives in semi-desert and steppe regions of Russia, lives in burrows. It is a poisonous and dangerous species of spider for humans.
4. House spiders, living closely with a person and safe for him. They weave webs in the most inconspicuous corners of the room.
5. Knitting spider, which has the ability to camouflage itself and become invisible. Refers to non-poisonous representatives of arachnids.
6. Jumping spider- a jumping small spider. It has the ability to climb glass and capture its prey without the help of a web.
7. H black widow (karakut)– the most dangerous type of spider for humans. Lives in the Astrakhan and Orenburg regions, as well as in the North Caucasus.

Are spiders insects or animals?

Many people are interested in this question; some people believe that spiders are insects, however, this is not so.

Spiders belong to the class Arachnids, and belong to a species of animal, and not insects, despite the incredible similarity to the latter. Arachnids were born 300 million years earlier than insects.

Both of these species have formed separate classes that have clear differences:

• Insects: They have 6 legs, belong to the class of insects of the arthropod type, and for the most part are omnivores. The main parts of the structure of insects: head, chest, abdomen, wings.
• Spiders have 8 legs, belong to the class of arachnids of the arthropod type, are very selective in food, natural hunters. It consists of only two sections - the abdomen, from which the legs grow, and the cephalothorax, on which the spider’s mouthparts are located. Has the ability to weave webs.

What do spiders eat?

Spiders, despite their small size, consume a large amount of food, however, they may not eat for a long time- from a month to a year. An interesting fact is that in a year the amount of food eaten by spiders exceeds the amount of food consumed by all people in the world.

Each type of spider has its own methods of obtaining food:

1. Creating traps using web weaving. The caught prey is treated with digestive juice, which corrodes it from the inside, after which the spider swallows it.
2. Searching for food by spitting out sticky saliva, which allows it to attract food to itself.

What do spiders eat:

1. The main diet of both outdoor and indoor spiders is insects. Spiders in a private house feed on flies, mosquitoes, crickets, butterflies, mealworms, cockroaches, grasshoppers, and woodlice larvae. Read more about the answer to the question.
2. Spiders living in burrows or on the soil surface love to eat beetles, orthoptera, and even snails and earthworms.
3. Some species hunt at night. For example, the queen spider creates a trap for moths at night.
4. Exotic spiders, due to their impressive size, choose larger prey. Thus, tarantula spiders prefer to hunt frogs, lizards, other spiders, mice, and even small birds. A Brazilian tarantula capable of catching and eating small snakes and grass snakes.
5. Spiders that live on water catch tadpoles using a web, small fish or midges floating on the surface of the water.
6. Some spiders use food as a source of food vegetable world: pollen, plant leaves, cereal grains.

How do spiders give birth?

By their nature, sexually mature males differ significantly from females in their small size, bright color, and low life expectancy. Found in nature, as a rule, they are much less common.

In some species of spiders, males are not found at all. It is believed that female spider has the ability to develop eggs virginally, therefore, can produce offspring without even being fertilized.

The male independently fills the genitals with sperm and goes in search of the female. Some types of spiders bring the “lady of the heart” a gift - an insect, as a sign of attention and approval from her. Males try to court as much as possible so as not to be eaten by the female. They perform a wedding dance - a rhythmic movement of their paws along their own web.

Some species of spiders fight on the female's web, while others mate with the males. Many males, in order to avoid a threat from the female, mate at the moment of her molting, while she is still helpless. After all, a fertilized spider often strives to eat its partner. Sometimes the male manages to escape.

Some species of spiders create families: they live in the same nest, raise offspring, and share prey. There are “cuckoo” spiders that throw their cocoons into the nests of other relatives.

A female spider can hatch at once up to 200,000 children. Such incredibly large offspring can be produced by both large and very tiny species of spiders. Spider eggs before reaching the stage adult experience two molts.

An interesting fact is that spiders have the ability to independently induce childbirth in the case of sick or weak offspring.

How long do spiders live?

The lifespan of spiders depends primarily on their species. Most spiders have many enemies and rarely survive to natural death.

Lifespan of spiders:

• So, some live only a couple of months, while others can live for several years. Moreover, about six months are spent on the egg stage.
• The life cycle of males ends much faster than that of spiders. Provided they live comfortably, males can live for only two years, but females can live up to ten years.

There are also such records:

• Some female tarantulas can live more than twenty years.
• Spiders of the genus Sicarius living in South America and Africa can live up to 15 years.
• Some tarantulas can live twenty years.
• It is clear that species of spiders that are pets of humans and live in captivity have longer lifespans. History knows of cases where such spiders lived up to thirty years.

Are house spiders dangerous for humans?

All spiders are venomous by nature, but The dose of venom from house spiders is not significant for humans. Therefore, in the event of a bite, which is extremely rare, you simply need to treat the area with an antiseptic. They can only be dangerous for people suffering from arachnophobia (fear of arachnids).

Several individuals living in an apartment are beneficial, because they destroy insects, which, as a rule, cause discomfort and pose a danger to people. Of course, if spiders are found on every corner, this creates a feeling of aesthetic rejection and unsanitary conditions in the house, so they should be removed.

How to get rid of spiders in the house?

In order to completely forget about spiders in your apartment, you need to use the following measures for fighting spiders:

1. Create a clean living environment. Spiders are very afraid of cleanliness, so regular and thorough cleaning of the premises can remove such residents. Particular attention should be paid to the most secluded corners: the back walls of furniture, the bottom of beds, the ceiling and walls.
2. Use special anti-spider preparations: aerosols, crayons, gels, as well as ultrasound. Chemical preparations such as Butox-50, Tarax, and Neoron have proven themselves well.
3. Renovate your home. Spiders cannot stand the smell of wallpaper paste, paint and whitewash.
4. Use folk remedies , they are safer and proven over the years. The most well-known remedy for spiders is crushed hazelnuts, chestnuts and oranges, which must be placed in all corners of the house. The smell of these fruits is unbearable for spiders.
5. Limit spiders' access to your apartment: seal all the cracks and cracks around windows and doors, check for holes in the window screen, walls, drains, and eliminate them.
6. It is necessary to call the appropriate specialists, if you are unable to cope with the spider invasion yourself.

It must be remembered that the most effective method destruction – complex.

Reasons for spiders appearing in the house

Spiders are very voracious animals. None of them will choose a place of residence where there is no food for them.

Therefore, before removing such residents, you need to figure out where the spiders are coming from:

1. There are a lot of insects in your apartment: midges, cockroaches, ants, flies, mosquitoes.
2. Availability of entrance to the premises. Through open windows, small cracks, flowers brought from the street, not only the spiders themselves, but also the insects that these eight-legged creatures love so much, can enter your home.
3. Warm temperature in the house. In autumn, spiders from the street look for more warm place for accommodation
4. Favorable humidity level.

Signs about spiders

Since ancient times, it has been believed that spiders have the ability to bring good or bad news. Almost every action performed by a spider, or events during which a person met with it, have their own explanations in folk superstitions.

Signs about spiders:

• Spider on the street. If you meet a spider in the morning, bad luck awaits you; in the evening, good news awaits you. If you find yourself in a web, expect trouble.
• Spider in the house. Seeing a spider in your house is a good omen; it will help you get rid of bad thoughts and avoid quarrels. If a spider runs across a table or floor, it means a move.
• Where does it move? It crawls towards you - to profit, crawls away from you - to loss.
• How it moves. If a spider descends on a web from the ceiling, expect an unexpected guest. A spider crawling up announces good news. If a spider lands on a person’s head, one should expect a gift; on one’s hand, money.
• Spiders and the weather. If a spider rolls up its web, it means rain; if you catch the web with your face, it means clear weather. If you see a spider weaving a web, then the weather will change.

Bad omens about spiders:

• Squashing a spider means depriving you of good luck and health, which is why you should not kill spiders.
• If a spider goes down the wall, it means a quick loss.
• If the newlyweds meet a spider, it means bad luck in their marriage.
• If a girl sees a cobweb over the door, it means her partner will cheat on her.
• A cobweb near icons is bad news.

If your encounter with a spider still upsets you, you should not be offended by it, since it is just a herald of upcoming events.

Conclusion

There are many types of spiders, but we can meet only a few of them in everyday life.

Spiders feed on insects, so if they have appeared in your home or garden, do not despair, as they can save you from annoying ants, bugs, mosquitoes, flies, and cockroaches. In addition, these arthropods may bring you some news.

The nature of reproduction in tarantulas is very complex, and in our time very little studied. Young males and females have similar lifestyles and are almost impossible to distinguish by their behavior.

I distinguish pubescent males from females by the way of life they lead and by appearance. In most species of tarantula, the males are brightly colored. They are often much smaller in size than females and have proportionately larger elongated paws and a different arrangement of pedipalps, thereby differing from females in greater mobility.

Sexually, males mature earlier than females. On average, males reach sexual vision at 1.5 years, while females reach maturity no earlier than 2 years (in some species the difference is even greater - 1.5 and 3 years). "Closely related" mating of spiders that emerged from the same cocoon remains impossible in natural conditions. But such crossing is still possible when the spiders grew up in captivity, by artificially creating different temperature and moisture conditions for the spiders for a feeding regime from an early age.

Mature male, weaves what is called a sperm web before mating. This sperm web is shaped like a triangle or quadrangle, into the lower part of which he secretes drops of sperm. The sperm is captured by the copulatory apparatus, after which the male begins his search for a female. At such times, the spider behaves diametrically opposite to permanent life. During the mating period, the male wanders, is very active and can be noticed when he moves even in the daytime. Male tarantulas travel approximately 7 - 9 km in one night alone in search of their female.

The male finds the female only with the help of its sensation (the spider’s vision does not affect these searches in any way: the male very quickly finds a female with blurred eyes) by the smell of the trace that she leaves on the rock or web near her burrow (for example, a female Aphonopelma hentzi near the entrance to her the hole is woven by a small ball of cobweb).

Finally, having finished his search, the male moves into the hole. Thus, having met a female, there may be 2 variations of this event:

In the first option, if the female is still not ready for mating, then she begins to very quickly attack the male, spreading her chelicerae in order to kill the male. In this situation, the male must retreat, or he has a chance:

1) be a “nourishing” food;

2) to be left without one or a pair or three limbs. Since the female initially does not perceive him as her sexual partner.

2nd option. In this case, the female may often show no interest in her partner. In such cases, the male lowers his cephalothorax and raises his abdomen, stretching out his front paws and pedipalps in front of him, then he begins to back away towards the exit, in this way the male tries to attract the attention of the female (it seems to be inviting her to follow him) . After some time, the spider stops and again moves its front legs in different directions - to the left or to the right. And with all this, he does not forget to raise his body so that the female’s interest in him is not lost until the couple leaves the hole and goes outside. When the male is not outside again, he will not feel confident and will not be able to move around safely.

Male courtship- tarantulas are much simpler than other types of spiders. Other spiders are characterized by very unusual mating behavior; it consists of performing peculiar so-called “ mating dances", for example, in species such as Araneidae, Salticidae, Lycosidae, or the male offers the female recently killed prey (as in Pisauridae).

The male spider begins to slowly approach the female, instantly touching her with the front pair of his limbs and pedipalps, or begins to knock his paws on the substrate. As a rule, the male periodically repeats these actions from time to time to make sure that the female will not harm him in any way. To date, no research has yet been carried out to determine whether there are any behavioral features of other tarantula species during crossing.

If the female is still behaving passively, the male will gradually approach her, moving his front pair of legs between the pedipalps and chelicerae, which she places when she is ready to mate. Then the male seems to press into them with his tibial hooks in order to take a stable position and pushes back the female’s cephalothorax, “stroking” the lower part at the base of the abdomen.

When a female shows her fullness readiness to mate(this is also often manifested in the abundant “drumming” sound that she makes with her paws hitting the substrate), the male wraps embolus 1 of the pedipalps and inserts it into the gonopore, which is located in the epigastric groove. The spider repeats the same procedure with the 2nd pedipalp. Strictly speaking, this is the very moment of copulation. All this happens within a couple of seconds. Often, the male quickly crawls away after this process, as the female will follow him.

It is known that the female eats her partner after mating, but this is not at all the case, i.e. often this does not happen (frequent cases when the male eats the female, and not vice versa), if the male has enough space for him to move away, then he can fertilize several more females afterwards. The spider can mate with several males in one season.

The eggs are fertilized in the uterus, the spermatic receptacles come into contact with it, and after a certain period during copulation (1-8 months), such a long process directly depends on different conditions(seasons, temperature changes, amount of moisture and food), and of course certain type tarantula spider When weaving a cocoon, the female lays her eggs there. All this action takes place in the inhabited chamber of the hole, and then it transforms into a nest. The cocoon is usually made up of 2 parts, which are fastened at the edges. Initially, the main part is woven, then the masonry is laid on it, and then it is woven with the covering part. Certain species (Avicularia spp., Theraphosa blondi) weave their “protective hairs” into the walls of the cocoon to protect it from unwanted enemies.

Unlike other types of spiders, the female tarantula protects and cares for her clutch. Sometimes she turns the cocoon over with the help of her chelicerae and pedipalps. She can also move the cocoon if the temperature begins to fluctuate and the humidity level drops or rises. This is due to certain difficulties in artificially incubating spider eggs at home. There are many cases where a female ate her laid cocoons due to stress or for reasons unknown to science. For this purpose, American, German, English and Australian collectors invented the incubator. Lovers simply take the cocoons from the female, thereby taking on the “mother’s responsibilities”; they twist the cocoons with their own hands, several times a day.

It is curious that for some varieties of tarantula spiders the following fact is known:

After successful mating, females lay several cocoons, with some gap in time, as a rule, this is no more than one month:

Hysterocrates spp., Stromatopelma spp., Holothele spp., Psalmopoeus spp., Tapinauchenius spp., Metriopelma spp., Pterinochilus spp., Ephebopus spp. and etc. What is most surprising is that the percentage of unfertilized eggs increases noticeably in repeated clutches.

The number of eggs that a female lays certainly differs depending on the species and directly depends on her size, age and other factors. The largest number of eggs is known for the species Lasiodora parahybana and is approximately 2.5 thousand pieces! In small spiders, the number of eggs does not exceed 30-60 pieces.

Incubation time: also different - 0.8 - 6 months. It is very interesting that tree species tend to have shorter lines than terrestrial species.

Average incubation temperature– 26-28°C, humidity should be 80%, only for such genera of tarantulas as Xenesthis , Megaphobema, the incubation temperature should not exceed 25°C.

Sizes born to the light of small spiders on average from 2 to 5 mm (for example, Cyclosternum) and up to 1.5 cm in the leg span of the goliath tarantula Theraphosa blondi. Newly born spiders of arboreal species are often larger than those born to terrestrial tarantulas, but the number of babies is usually much smaller (no more than 250). Newly born tarantulas are very mobile, and at the least danger they hide and run to a nearby shelter or very quickly bury themselves in the substrate. This behavior of spiders is typical for all types of spiders (arboreal, burrow, ground).

Young spiders of the same clutch hatch at approximately the same time. Before hatching, tiny spines are formed at the base of the pedipalp of the embryo - “egg teeth”, with the help of which the spider breaks the shell of the egg and is born “into the world”. For the so-called post-embryonic molting, which most often occurs inside the cocoon, the newly born baby has very thin integuments, his appendages are not separated, he still cannot feed himself, therefore he lives off the accumulated yolk, which remains in the intestines. This one of the life stages is called “prelarva” (after which they turn into stage 1 nymphs). After the next molt (3-5 weeks), the prelarva turns into the “larval” stage (2nd stage nymph), also a non-feeding individual, but more or less mobile and already having the smallest claws on the paws and developed chelicerae (Vachon, 1957) .

With subsequent (postembryonic) molt Young spiders begin to form, which become more active and able to feed themselves, crawl out of the cocoon and for the first time, most often, stay in a heap, and then scatter in all directions and begin to live independently.

Most often, after young spiders emerge from the cocoon, the female is no longer worried about them, but is very interesting feature nature in the genus Hysterocrate s from the island of Sao Tome, Pamphobeteus, Pterinochilus. This feature is that after birth, the spiders live next to the female for about six months. With all this, the female shows true, maternal love for her children. This feature was noticed only in this species; in other species this phenomenon has not yet been noticed (but there are some exceptions here). A mother very actively protects her children from any possible danger and she gets food for them herself. Similar facts are known with such a species as Haplopelma schmidti (E. Rybaltovsky).

Nature and lifestyle The lives of young spiders are most often very similar to the lives of adult spiders. They make their own burrows and hunt a lot to get their own food, which is an acceptable size for them. The number of sheddings varies throughout life. The amount of molt depends on the size of the tarantula and its gender (in males the number is always less than in females), for example, 9 – 15 molts per life. The average lifespan of female tarantula spiders is also very different compared to males.

Woody, and even such big spiders, like Poecilotheria, as well as tarantulas of the genus Pterinochilus, live no more than 15 years. Large terrestrial, namely American spiders, live in a terrarium from 25 years, and according to some facts, even to an older age (for example, the age of the female Brachypelma emilia, who lived with S.A. Schultz and M.J. Schultz, was approximately 35 years).

The lifespan of males is significantly less, on average 3-5 years. Due to the fact that males reach sexual maturity much earlier than females (at 1.5-4 years), and, often, the average lifespan of male tarantulas in their last molt (after the appearance of sexual characteristics in males) ranges from 5 months to 1 ,5 years. But for some species samples much longer periods are known (6 years).

According to Dr. Claudio Lipari, the life span of the last instar males of the Brazilian Grammostola pulchra is no less than 2.5 years, and one species lived for about 5 years.

The rest of the long-lived male tarantulas of the last age, according toLucian Rosa's post is as follows:

Grammostola rosea - 18 months,

Megaphobema velvetosoma - 9 months,

Poecilotheria formosa - 11 months,

Poecilotheria ornata - 13 months,

Poecilotheria rufilata - 17 months.

According to the report of the Canadian scientist Rick West, a sexually mature male tarantula Phormictopus cancerides lived with Allan McKee, although after his moult he lost the upper segments of the pedipalps - 27 months, and the male Brachypelma albopilosum with Rick West himself - 2.5 years after the onset of sexual maturity and died during the next moulting.

We also know about a unique case when amateur Jay Stotsky has a small male woody type Poecilotheria regalis molted very successfully 2 times! at the latter age, the intervals between molts were 18 months. But with all this, the pedipalps and one chelicera that he lost during the first molt were completely restored after the second moult!

True, it should be said that such cases became known only when tarantulas were kept in a terrarium.

As for the onset of sexual maturity of tarantula spiders, the following information is usually contradictory.

Males of the genus Aphonopelma reach sexual maturity at 10-13 years, females at 10-12 years. Tarantulas Grammostola burzaquensis become sexually mature at 6 years (Ibarra-Grasso, 1961), Acanthoscurria sternalis - at 4-6 years (Galiano 1984, 1992).

Thank you for your attention!

An Australian woman posted a video on her Instagram showing her holding a spider with dozens of tiny babies on her back. During the video, they do not stop moving, which horrifies many social network users, who almost drop their phones on the floor out of fear. But this is how a spider takes care of its offspring.

Lisa Van Kool Donovan is an aspiring entomologist, which means she's not at all afraid of spiders, bugs, and worms. And where does the girl live? Of course in Australia!

Considering where she lives, it’s not at all surprising that Lisa came across a “fluffy spider.” We already wrote about him when he was, but there was no video there. Now the spider with thousands of small eyes on its back can be seen very closely in the video.

In fact, this is not a spider, but a female spider, and to be very precise, a female of the so-called wolf spider. This arthropod is not as intimidating as its name might suggest. They are called that because they hunt without the help of a web. Moreover, female wolf spiders are one of the few who take such careful care of their offspring, carrying their spiderlings on their backs until they are able to get food on their own.

Lisa herself was very touched by the video with the wolf spider, but not all subscribers share her opinion. If you are among those who are more likely to be frightened by spiders than to awaken tender feelings, it is better for you not to go to a girl’s Instagram account, because there you can find, for example, something like this.

This is her favorite type of insect - predatory bugs. People who were not warned about the content of this video throw their phones on the floor, as they themselves admit in the comments.

Instagram thinks I might like this video. I almost threw my phone on the floor! No, your videos are really cool, but I can't control my fear! Expand

And, of course, Lisa keeps arthropods at home. For example, she raised the spider in the video below from the moment it hatched from the egg, and now treats it like a child.

Little is known about life cycle the vast majority of tarantulas. We can only assume that it is similar to the cycle of those few carefully studied species, and make certain additions to it based on factors such as seasons, temperature, humidity and habitat. Be careful! These assumptions can easily mislead you. For too long they tried to adapt Terafozide to existing formulas. Surprises await us, and assumptions can only serve as a starting point. This requires other areas of research. Everything stated here may apply only to North American species, but may not be true at all for species from Africa, Asia, etc.

Maturation

In the life of every tarantula there is one significant molt (if it, of course, lives to see it) - this is the adult or largest molt.

The duration of puberty depends very much on the type of tarantula, the sex of the individual, physical condition, nutritional conditions and other factors unknown to us. For example, male tarantulas mature a year and a half earlier than their sisters, but insufficient nutrition can delay this process for two years or more (Baerg 1928).

In one of the North American species, this molt occurs at 10-12 years of life (Baerg 1928). Males of the species Aphonopelma anax can mature at two to three years of age (Breene 1996), and some tropical tarantulas (eg Avicularia spp.) mature even more quickly, perhaps even by 8 months of age (Chagrentier 1992).

Among individuals of the same brood, males mature much earlier than females. One of the hypotheses to explain this fact is that maturation in different time prevents brothers and sisters from mating, and accordingly preserves genetic diversity.

Another hypothesis suggests that males take less time to reach full body weight because they have less weight than females. This leads to the conclusion that females take longer to develop larger reproductive organs and gain more body weight in preparation for ovulation. If this hypothesis is correct, then avoidance of inbreeding is only a secondary phenomenon. Before the next molt, all tarantulas belonging to the same species appear more or less alike, and even after maturation the adult female still looks very much like a large juvenile.

The male, however, undergoes a radical transformation during his maturation after the final molt. It develops longer legs and a smaller abdomen than the female. In most varieties, the front pair of legs now have prominent, forward-pointing hooks on each tibia.

Male Brachypelma smithi. The tibial hooks and bulbs on the pedipalps are visible.

Male Brachypelma smithi. The tibial hooks on the first pair of walking legs are visible.

The male's character also changes (Petrunkevetch 1911): instead of a balanced, reclusive behavior, he acquired an excitable, hyperactive temperament, characterized by impetuous starts, fast movements and strong hunting to change places. For the male, this maturing molt is the final one. In short, this is the beginning of the end. His days are numbered.

One of the most important transformations occurs in its pedipalps. While his sister's pedipalps still resemble walking legs, his pedipalps look like they're wearing boxing gloves. But make no mistake: he is a lover, not a fighter! The bulbous ends of its pedipalps are now very complexly arranged and adapted for use as specific genital organs. The terminal segments on the pedipalps have changed from relatively simple tarsi and claws to complex secondary reproductive organs used to introduce sperm into the female reproductive tract.

Sex Life

Little is known about the sexual behavior of wild tarantulas. Virtually all we really know comes from observing spiders living in captivity, and such housing can radically change habits and instincts. We report here only what little we know about the wild habits of tarantulas and can only hope for more extensive research in this area.

Charger

Soon after the final molt, the male tarantula spins a web of sperm and thereby prepares itself for a sexual career (Baerg 1928 and 1958; Petrankevich 1911; Minch 1979). This sperm web usually looks like a silky tent, open on both sides. But in general it can occur in one of two options. Some varieties build it with only two open ends. Others weave it also opening from above. In this case, the male will spin an additional small patch of special web inside (apparently with his epiandrous glands), adjacent to the upper edge. If there is no open top, he will spin such a patch inside and adjacent to the edge of one of the open ends. Turning upside down under this web, he will then deposit a drop of his sperm on the underside of that small patch. After which he will climb to the top of the web, clinging to the pedipalps, first one, then the other, stretch through the top (if it is open), or through the open end (if the top is closed) and charge his bulbs with sperm. This process is called sperm induction.

The sperm with which he charges his bulbs is not yet active. Once sperm are produced in the testes, they are encased in a protein capsule and remain dormant until the male is called to fertilize the female (Foelix 1982).

After “charging” his pedipalps, the male leaves the sperm web and goes to look for a female to court. During his wanderings, the male is exposed to conditions common to any predator in this environment, and therefore he must be hyperactive even in order to survive and mate. Thus, male hyperactivity is a necessary survival feature. Where does the male weave his first sperm web? Within his burrow before he leaves the web or after he leaves the burrow to search for a female? The hole seems like a very tight place to perform the necessary movements, but it is much safer than an open space.

The male will spin several sperm webs and charge the tips of his pedipalps more than once. It is capable of mating several times during its sexual career. But there is still very little data indicating how many times a male is capable of recharging his pedipalps, or how many females he can impregnate. Where does the male build additional sperm webs after he leaves his burrow? Does it prefer secluded areas under a rock or other cover, or does it simply stop anywhere there is an object that can be used as a vertical support, oblivious to the rest of the world? Most likely, the answers to these questions depend on the species of the tarantula. Clearly, more extensive research is needed. The righteous girls he usually looks for stay at home, waiting for their suitors. Of course, the greater the distances he covers, the greater the chance he has of finding a female ready to mate. Males sometimes found them by moving almost two kilometers from their home (Dzanowski-Bell 1995).

The Taming of the Shrew

Females are probably discovered through some kind of sense (we cannot confidently call it taste or smell) and the tactics of weaving nets around their burrows (Minch 1979). Once the sperm web has been woven, the male will begin to very carefully tap his feet at the entrance to the female's burrow in an attempt to arouse her interest. If this does not produce the desired effect, he will try to very carefully crawl into her hole. At some point in his movement, he will come into contact with the female, and here there are two possible scenarios for the development of events. It can be met with an almost explosive attack. In this case, the female can pounce on him like a ferocious tiger, with bared fangs and the clear intention of having dinner instead of sex. The male must try to hastily retreat from the hole or else he will become the main dish on his bride's menu.

In another scenario, the female initially ignores him, acting modest and persistently seeking her affection. In this case, the male will lower his prosoma until it lies on the surface, while holding the opisthosoma high in the air. He extends his front legs and pedipalps towards the female and, in this position of extreme supplication, drags his body back. This ingratiating appearance almost always works, and while the male pulls himself back, the female modestly follows him. From time to time he pauses his retreat, still maintaining a submissive body position, alternately thrusting and thrusting his pedipalps and forelegs, first from the left side, then from the right, then from the left again, to maintain the female's interest. So, step by step, they move in an unusual procession from the hole to the surface.

The courtship of araneomorphic spiders (the families Araneidae, Pisoridae, Saltikiidae and Lycosideidae, for example) is often very complex and bizarre. In these spiders, the male performs a small dance or plucks web threads from the female’s web in a special way, which seems to turn off her predatory instinct and replaces it with a willingness to accept an assistant in procreation. Some males in the Pizorida family even go so far as to offer the female a recently caught insect before mating.

Courtship among tarantulas is relatively simple and straightforward. Males (and sometimes females) often twitch and strike the ground with their pedipalps and legs before mating. However, this is not as complex a dance as that of the Araneomorph. To date, there have been no seriously documented attempts to determine differences in marriage rituals in different species of tarantulas. In these spiders, it is generally very difficult to determine whether they are currently ready to mate or not. Perhaps this reminds us of who they are, and that the mistaken sign given by the male - the right way for him to be attacked and eaten.

Somewhere in the open, when the female is no longer in familiar territory, the male may try to approach her cautiously. By this time, when he has seduced her and lured her out of her hiding place, she already recognizes him as a suitor and remains motionless. The male may touch her with the tips of the front pair of legs or tap them on the ground or on the female several times in a row. After a short pause, he can resume his movements. Usually the male performs these manipulations several times until he is convinced that the female is not planning anything criminal against him. In fact, the sequence of events exact amount All movements and the type of foreplay vary depending on the species of tarantula and may be an important key to understanding their phylogeny (Platnek 1971). However, no one has yet conducted truly serious studies of sexual behavior in these spiders.

Copulation

If the female is still passive or if she approaches too slowly, the male carefully moves closer by moving his front legs between her pedipalps and chelicerae. At the same time, the female will raise and spread her fangs. This is not an expression of hostility, but rather of readiness to mate. The male grabs her fangs with his tibial hooks in order to give a stable position to both himself and his girlfriend. It is a mistake to believe that in this way the male makes the female motionless and, as it were, disarms her. Nothing like this! At this moment, she is just as eager for intimacy as he is. The authors witnessed many cases where it was the female who took the initiative, initiating mating with the male herself! After the male has securely grabbed the female's fangs, he pushes her back and forth. At this moment, he extends his pedipalps and gently strokes the lower part of her abdomen. If she remains calm and obedient, he will open the embolus of one pedipalp and carefully insert it into the gonopore of the female's epigastric groove. This will constitute the actual act of copulation. After penetration, the female bends sharply almost at a right angle to the male, and he, having emptied one pedipalp, quickly inserts and empties the other.

After copulation, the male holds the female as far away from him as possible until he can safely detach his front legs and start striding! The female often pursues him for a short distance, but is extremely rarely full of determination. Although she is one of the predators he must run from, she is usually more interested in simply driving him away from her. Contrary to the legend that the lover spider lives to seduce as many innocent maidens as possible, there is good reason to believe that it may simply return another evening to mate with a compliant female for a second or third time.

After several weeks or months of maturation, depending on the species, the male tarantula begins to slowly decline and eventually dies. Rarely do they survive winter, and even more rarely do they survive spring (Baerg 1958). To date, there are no reliable data on the lifespan of males of most species, although the authors kept several males that lived for approximately 14-18 months after the final molt.

Undoubtedly, old weak males in nature become easy prey and this is probably why they have a shorter life span than in captivity. In West Texas, the authors collected a large collection of male tarantulas as in early spring, and in mid-April. Most of these males, judging by their emaciated appearance, were obviously survivors from the previous autumn. A small but significant proportion of them (perhaps one in five or six) appeared neither emaciated nor showing signs of loss of stubble or any physical damage.

One would expect that in warmer areas, some species of tarantulas might molt and reproduce much earlier than once thought. Subsequently, Breen (1996) described the mating cycle of Athonopelma anax from southern Texas, in which males matured and mated with females in early spring.

In many parts of the tropics, some tarantulas (e.g., Avicularia genus) molt and reproduce regardless of the season due to stable temperatures, humidity, and food abundance (Charpentier 1992).

Baerg (1928, 1958) and later Minch (1978) argued that the female does not have sufficient time to lay eggs between breeding in early spring and molting in midsummer. If this were true, then such pairing would be inconsistent. However, Breen (1996) has carefully described the situation that occurs with Aphonopelma anax.

The authors' experience with captive Brachypelm tarantulas has shown that matings before December and after midwinter (January in Canada) are usually fruitless. Thus, it turned out that the mating and oviposition seasons differ for each species, and often radically. These creatures constantly give us unexpected surprises, especially when we think we have all the answers.

Motherhood

Baerg (1928) reports that wild female tarantulas living in Arkansas (for example, Aphonopelma hentzi), having laid eggs, close the entrances to their burrows soon after mating and thus overwinter. The sperm donated by the male is carefully given shelter in her spermatheca until next spring. And only next spring she will spin a cocoon the size of a walnut, containing a thousand eggs or more. She will take care of him, carefully ventilating her hole and protecting him from predators. While protecting the offspring, the female can be very aggressive.

The timing of egg laying varies significantly. Here are some of the factors that determine layover timing:

1. A species of tarantula;
2. Geographic latitude homeland of the female tarantula;
3. Prevailing climate;
4. Hemisphere.

There may also likely be other factors, but there are so many in reality that any generalizations here may be inappropriate.

Arkansas tarantulas (Athonopelma enzi) typically lay eggs in June or July (Baerg 1958), while those from west Texas lay eggs a month earlier. In captivity, exotic tarantula species can lay eggs in early March. This appears to be the result of keeping them indoors in an artificial climate.

Fertilization of eggs occurs during their laying, and not during mating, as one might assume. Insemination of the female appears to serve at least two functions. This can stimulate her to produce eggs while sequestering the dormant sperm in a convenient, protected location until the right time.

Females of most vertebrates ovulate regardless of whether or not there has been contact with a male. Chickens constantly lay eggs (fertilized or not), and in humans, women undergo ovulation and monthly cycles with no sexual intercourse at all. It is not yet clear whether this also happens in tarantulas or not. The authors kept many females that did not begin producing eggs until they were fertilized by a male. While sleek and slender before, they became bloated and heavy within a few weeks of mating. It can be assumed that mating or the presence of viable sperm in the female's spermatheca prompted her to begin producing eggs.

On the other hand, Baxter (1993) suggests that female tarantulas can produce eggs without mating. This may occur due to the start of the breeding season, the abundance of food available, or even the simple proximity of a male of the relevant species. The authors have many females who look extremely heavy and plump, but who have not mated for many years. If they were full of eggs, Baxter's hypothesis would be confirmed. If they simply turned out to be full of fatty tissue, the previous hypothesis would be confirmed. But the authors cannot sacrifice any of their pets, so this question remains unanswered for now. These two hypotheses are not mutually exclusive and both may be correct depending on the circumstances. These creatures have been around too long not to have developed a vast repertoire of little tricks to confuse us.

With a standing population of 150 to 450 adult tarantulas, most of them female, for more than 25 years, the authors had only one female laying eggs without being fertilized by a male. In this case, a female Afonopelma from Texas lived in captivity for over 3 years and underwent three molts. On the fourth spring she produced a cocoon, but the eggs did not develop. Baxter (1993) also reports the laying of infertile eggs by unfertilized females of Psalmopeus cambridges. In a personal letter, Brin reported that he had observed this phenomenon almost thirty times! We are not sure about the timing of cocoon development for most tarantulas in the wild, but it certainly varies with temperature environment and spider species. Somewhat more information is known about the periods of development of some species of tarantulas when the eggs were kept in an incubator. The periods associated with the development of eggs of various tarantulas are presented in Table XII. It must be emphasized that these data are valid only for artificial incubator conditions.

Larvae of tarantulas Afonopelma enzi emerge from cocoons in July - early August and leave the mother's burrow about a week or a little later (Baerg 1958). Soon after this, the female will begin molting. If she has not mated in time to lay fertilized eggs, she will begin to molt somewhat earlier, perhaps in late spring or early summer. Afonopelma anax from southern Texas lays eggs in June–July and molts in August–early September (Breen 1996). Thus, once mating has occurred, the schedule for the remaining females becomes approximately the same as that of the Afonopelma enzi variety.

Along with the rest of the exoskeleton, the lining spermatheca with the remains of sperm will be discarded, and our lady will again become a virgin.