Science & Tech

Tarantula species spins sperm webs while wearing pink booties

Tarantula species spins sperm webs while wearing pink booties
Dan Godwin with tarantulas: Boo at the Zoo
Fox - 4 News / VideoElephant

There's a species of tarantula that can be found in Central and South America that spins sperm webs while looking great doing so, wearing little pink boots.

Yes, really.

The pinktoe tarantula, whose actual name is Avicularia avicularia, can be found in countries such as Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname, reports IFL Science.

Not only do these spiders have pink boots but they also have blue-brown fuzzy coats; they're so fluffy they've actually been able to weaponise their hairiness.

These arachnids also spin sperm webs - when it's time for them to make babies, the male will construct a structure of a dense sheet of silk that it fixes to a substrate and it takes them hours to complete.

Once it's finished, the male then sneaks underneath the woven web to leave droplets of sperm before moving topside so he can rub it with his palps, the small appendages near his mouth.

This pretty much loads them up with sperm so that when he has a chance to mate, he's ready to do so.

A stock image of a pinktoe tarantulaAvicularia avicularia are also known as pinktoe tarantulas / Richard Adams, CC BY 2.0, keepingexoticpets.com

The bodies of these spiders are around seven centimetres in length but they have a defensive mechanism with projectile body hair.

As the spiders get older, they grow urticating hairs (stinging nettles are including in this plant genus, to give you an idea of what they're like) and they get more each time they molt.

Some of these hairs fall off when come into contact and others can be turned into mini missiles if the spider wants to kick them off.

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The Conversation (0)