Brazilian black and white spider (Nhandu coloratovillosus). Brazilian white-knee tarantula (Acanthoscurria geniculata) Brazilian black tarantula

There are about 42 thousand species of spiders in the world. Let's find among them the one that can rightfully be called the largest spider in the world.

So, the top 10 largest spiders in the world:

Nefila

Nephiles - these spiders stand out from all ten of the largest spiders in that they weave a web, the remaining 9 do not.

These spiders are also known as: giant tree spider, banana spider, gold spinner. There are about 30 varieties of Nephila, the size of the females of this species can reach 12 cm.

There are cases of attacks by golden spiders on humans, but the poison of these spiders does not pose a serious danger to humans.

Tegenaria is also called the giant house spider - the span of the legs of these spiders reaches 13 cm.

These spiders are great at running short distances. They have a very common cannibalism. The habitat of this species of spiders is Africa and Asia, most often they can be found in caves or abandoned buildings, however, these spiders are now rare.

Cerbal Arabian

The Arabian cerbal was discovered quite recently - in 2003. The maximum officially registered paw span is 14 centimeters, however, according to some reports, it can reach 20 cm. Cerbal females are larger than males.

Cerbals live in the desert dunes of Israel and Jordan. They are active only at night, like most of the inhabitants of the desert.

Brazilian wandering spider

It looks too intimidating, the length of the body along with the legs is about 17 cm. It is listed as one of the most poisonous in the world, their bite is life-threatening. living in the tropics South America, spiders are named so because they do not have one habitat. The wandering spider does not knit a web, but is always in search of a victim.

The species is very interesting in that some spiders overtake prey by jumping, others running around develop a fairly high speed. They hunt at night and hide in secluded places during the day.

They prey mainly on insects, but can cope with larger reptiles and birds than themselves.

This is a huge spider, part of the tarantula family. The leg span of this spider is more than 30 cm. It lives in the forests of the tropics and subtropics, is a burrowing species. Color from dark gray to bright brown. The paws of the predator are covered with hairs.

The baboon spider is active at night and feeds on insects and small vertebrates. It kills its prey by injecting poison. Feeling danger, it rises to its hind legs, depicts a frightening look and knocks on the ground with its forelimbs, making sounds similar to gnashing. The venom of this spider is dangerous to humans.

Colombian purple tarantula

This tarantula belongs to the tarantula family, along with its legs it can be more than 20 cm long (there is an officially recorded leg span of 34.05 cm). Lives in the tropics of South America.

Sometimes you can see a rather terrible sight when a spider eats birds, but there is no danger for people. More often it feeds on insects and small spiders, but it can also eat frogs and rodents. Females are able to live for about 15 years, males only 2-3.

Phalanges, bihorks or solpugs - belong to the order of phalanges of the arachnid class. The span of the legs of these phalanges can reach 30 cm, the body length is 5-8 cm. The brownish body and limbs are covered with hairs, in front there are tentacles that look like legs

Camel spiders come out to hunt at night, their menu is varied: beetles, lizards, mice, chicks and many other animals. They live in the deserts of all continents except Australia.

Phalanxes are able to run at speeds up to 2 km / h, therefore they are also known as the Wind Scorpion (Wind Scorpion). They differ in that they emit an unpleasant squeak during defense.

Brazilian salmon-pink tarantula (Lasiodora parahybana)

Found in Brazil at the beginning of the 20th century in 1917, body length up to 10 cm, paws up to 30 cm. People often keep it at home as an exotic pet.

In males small body and longer legs, and the body of the female is larger, weighing up to 100 grams. Females can live up to 15 years. For self-defense from other predators, the tarantula shakes off its allergenic hairs, but if this does not help, then it raises its front legs and prepares for an attack.

The Indigenous Australian is the largest spider in the world, known as the giant crab spider because of the fact that its legs look like those of a crab. Lives in wooden buildings and crevices.

Individuals measuring 30 cm are gray or brown in color, but some have white or red spots. Thorns are clearly visible on the legs, the body is fluffy.

These spiders are called hunters because of the ability to hunt, and because of the high speed of movement. They are excellent jumpers. To kill prey, they inject poison that is not dangerous to humans. They feed on various invertebrates. People can only be bitten in self-defense.

goliath tarantula

The spider is of impressive size, it can reach 170 grams, its height together with legs is 30 cm, it belongs to the tarantula family. Lives in the tropics of South America. It builds minks up to half a meter deep with a web-covered entrance. Females are able to survive up to 25 years, males - up to 6.

Goliath suddenly sneaks up and swiftly pounces on prey, poisoning it with poisonous fangs. It feeds on frogs, small snakes, mice and birds.

Goliath tarantula is able to make powerful sounds with chelicerae that can be heard even after 5 meters. Defending themselves, they use their bright brown hairs, irritating the mucous membranes of the mouth and nose, which the spider shakes towards the enemy from its body.

The biggest spider in Russia

There are large spiders in Russia too - this is South Russian tarantulas. This spider is also known as Mizgir.

This species belongs to the wolf spider family. The size of the female of this spider reaches 3 cm, completely covered with thick gray hairs. Tarantulas dig very deep vertical burrows, feed on insects, and can bite a person, but not fatally.

The most popular and widespread tarantula spider of its kind. Acanthoscurria geniculata is found in kipper collections all over the world, thanks to its low prices and simple conditions content of this tarantula spider.

Genus Acanthoscurria geniculata from the rainforests of Northern Brazil. In nature, this tarantula digs quite deep holes, or settles in the roots of trees, under stones or other shelters. Acanthoscurria geniculata spends the entire daylight hours in its nest, and only after dark comes out in search of prey.

Acanthoscurria geniculata is a very showy tarantula that attracts attention with its large size, contrasting coloration and excellent appetite. In my collection there is an adult female of this species, which I raised from a small molt, now it has an impressive size, about 9 centimeters in the body, for the entire time of its maintenance, I have never regretted that I bought this tarantula.

Acanthoscurria geniculata characteristics:

Adult size: As I wrote above, this species has an impressive size, an adult can reach up to 9-10 centimeters in the body and up to 20 centimeters in the span of the paws.

Growth rate: Females of the species Acanthoscurria geniculata reach sexual maturity by 2-2.5 years, males, as is customary among tarantulas, do it faster, in 1.5-2 years.

Lifetimes: Females of this species can live up to 15 years.

Variety : Acanthoscurria geniculata is a terrestrial tarantula that can burrow if given sufficient substrate and does not set up shelters.

Irritating hairs: This species has hairs, and Acanthoscurria geniculata does not hesitate to comb them, it does it at the first opportunity.

I: It does not pose a danger to humans, but according to studies, Acanthoscurria geniculata has a lot of poison, for 1 procedure for taking the poison, scientists received about 9 milligrams of dry poison, which is quite a lot.

Aggressiveness and danger: Spiders of this species can be quite aggressive and nervous, but they do not have a high speed of movement, and are not considered dangerous.

Peculiarities: The temperament of spiders of the species Acanthoscurria geniculata is quite different, sometimes calm individuals come across that can easily walk hands and do not show aggression when interfering with their territory. And sometimes there are psychos who bite a jet of water or tweezers, which remove debris from the terrarium.

Acanthoscurria geniculata buy:

When looking for a seller, I always advise first of all to contact the community of exotic animal lovers in your region, they can be found in social network In contact with. Also, always check the reputation of the seller you are going to buy from.

Acanthoscurria geniculata home contents:

For keeping this tarantula spider, a horizontal terrarium is best, approximately 40x30x30 centimeters in size. Acanthoscurria geniculata, like almost all other tarantula spiders, contains one individual each. Since this species loves high humidity, the terrarium, of course, must have good ventilation, it is good if the ventilation holes are both at the bottom and at the top of the terrarium.

A moisture-absorbing substrate is poured onto the bottom of the terrarium, it is perfect as a substrate coco substrate , it is safe for the tarantula, absorbs moisture well, and is difficult to mold, the substrate layer should be at least 4-5 centimeters. Also in the terrarium with Acanthoscurria geniculata it is necessary to install a shelter, it can be any decoration with which the tarantula can feel "hidden from the eyes". For an adult, you must also install a drinker with constantly clean and fresh water.

Acanthoscurria geniculata is accustomed to conditions of high humidity, in the terrarium the humidity level should be maintained at about 70-80%, this can be achieved by installing a drinker and spraying the substrate every few days with a spray bottle. The main thing is to leave the substrate moist, not wet, not to bring it to the state of a swamp. The temperature in the terrarium with Acanthoscurria geniculata should be maintained in the range of 23 to 27 degrees Celsius, as the temperature drops, the tarantula will become inactive, will feed poorly and grow more slowly, and with a strong drop in temperature, it may die.

There are usually no problems with this, the spider greedily grabs almost any provided food items , very rarely refuses to eat, this is usually associated with the approach of molting. Feed Acanthoscurria geniculata 1-2 times a week for adults, and 2-3 times a week for babies and adolescents.

The size of the fodder insect should be selected according to the body size of the tarantula spider, without taking into account the length of its legs. Although in the case of Acanthoscurria geniculata, food objects slightly larger than the body of the spider can also be given.

You need to feed tarantula spiders with fodder insects, for example: marble, Argentine, Turkmen, six-point, Madagascar cockroaches, beetle larvae zofobas , crickets or other food insects.

Acanthoscurria geniculata reproduction:

Acanthoscurria geniculata has no problems with this, they breed well in captivity, they make very large cocoons that contain mind-boggling numbers of eggs. In the video, you can watch the female calling the male to mate by tapping her paws on the ground.

After mating, about 3 months pass, and the female begins to weave a cocoon, which, according to various sources, can contain from 200 to 1000 eggs, their number depends on the age of the female. After 2 months, from the moment of weaving the cocoon, small spiders begin to emerge from it.

Brazilian black and white spider - a very rare and expensive species of tarantulas. These are rather large spiders, they are not very active.

Habitat: fields and pampas of Brazil.
Type: earth.
Food: Young spiders feed on small crickets and other small insects. Adults eat crickets and other large insects, small lizards, newborn mice.
Size: 16-30 cm.
Growth rate: average.
Temperature: 26.6-29.4"C.
Humidity: 75-80%. All tarantulas that have three phalanges can drink from a small and wide saucer.
Personality: calm.
Housing: Young spiders live in a transparent plastic container with holes for fresh air. Adults require a terrarium with a volume of 35-60 liters. The area of the bottom of the terrarium is more important than the height.
Substrate: 7.5-10 cm of peat moss or humus.
Decoration: logs, fin, tree bark, etc., everything that forms secret places. Moss can be placed on the substrate.

ATTENTION! All tarantulas are poisonous (to one degree or another). For most people, this species is not dangerous, but some may be allergic to poison. Therefore, be very careful when dealing with tarantulas.

A tarantula spider, or a tarantula spider, is a large spider whose dimensions, including legs, can exceed 20 cm. These spiders are often kept at home. Tarantulas belong to the phylum Arthropoda, the class Arachnida, the order Spiders, the suborder Mygalomorphic, the family Theraphosidae.

Tarantula spiders got their name from the engravings created by the German artist and entomologist Maria Sibylla Merian, where a large spider is depicted attacking a hummingbird. She saw a spider attack on a bird during her stay in Suriname.

In some sources, confusion arises due to a mistranslation, where all large spiders, including tarantulas, are called tarantula. In fact, tarantulas are classified as infraorders of araneomorphic spiders, and tarantulas are mygalomorphic spiders that have a completely different structure of chelicerae, due to which they differ in such large body sizes with a leg span reaching 28-30 cm. More detailed description tarantula you will find at this link.

Tarantulas, types, photos and names

Currently, the family of tarantulas is divided into 13 subfamilies, including many species. A description of some tarantulas is given below:

Brazilian black and white tarantula(Acanthoscurria brocklehursti)

differs in rather aggressive, unpredictable character, bright coloring and intensive growth. The body size is from 7 to 9 cm. The leg span of the spider is from 18 to 23 cm. The black-and-white tarantula lives in Brazil, hides between tree roots or between stones, and can also dig holes, although it can often be seen out of any shelters. The life expectancy of females is 15 years. The comfortable temperature for keeping this spider is from 25 to 27 degrees Celsius, air humidity is 70-80%.

Smith's brachypelma, he is Mexican red-knee tarantula(Brachypelma smithi)

a species of spider native to Mexico and the southern United States. These are large spiders with a body length of up to 7-8 cm and a leg span of up to 17 cm. The main body color of the tarantula is dark brown or almost black, some areas on the legs are covered with orange and red spots, sometimes with a white or yellow border. The body is densely covered with light pink (sometimes brown) hairs. Representatives of the species are especially calm and non-aggressive, have low poison toxicity. Females live up to 25-30 years, the life expectancy of males is about 4 years. The diet of spiders includes various insects, lizards and rodents. The ideal temperature for keeping a tarantula is 24-28 degrees with an air humidity of 70%.

Avicularia purpurea

species of South American tarantulas, widespread in Ecuador. The body length of the tarantula is about 5-6 cm. The span of the legs is no more than 14 cm. At a cursory glance, the spider looks black, but when it hits it sun rays it can be seen that the cephalothorax, tarsi and chelicerae are cast in an intense purple-blue color, the setae on the paws are brick-colored, and the hairs near the mouth are orange-red. Favorite place The habitats of this spider are pastures, tree hollows, as well as gaps under the roof and cracks in the walls of inhabited premises. Representatives of the species are non-aggressive, rather fast and shy, unpretentious in care and food, so they are often kept at home. The ideal temperature for keeping a tarantula varies between 25-28 degrees with an air humidity of at least 80-85%.

Avicularia versicolor

a species of tarantula, common in Guadeloupe and on the island of Martinique. Representatives of the species grow up to 5-6 cm in length and have a limb span of up to 17 cm. Young specimens are distinguished by a bright blue body with white stripes on the abdomen. After 8-9 lines, the entire body of the tarantula is covered with thin bright hairs, and red and green tones with a metallic sheen may appear in the color. Tarantulas of this species are quite peaceful, they bite only when they are squeezed into a corner. Unlike most relatives, they do not comb poisonous hairs off themselves, therefore they are a favorite terrarium species and a source of pride for collectors. At home, they eat crickets and cockroaches, an adult is enough for one frog or mouse per month. The life expectancy of females is 8 years, males - no more than 3 years.

Aphonopelma seemanni

typical representative of the fauna Central America, distributed from Costa Rica and Nicaragua, to Panama and Honduras. Usually lives in burrows. The inhabitants of Costa Rica are distinguished by black color with white stripes on their legs, the spiders of the Nicaraguan population are dark brown with beige stripes on their legs. The body size of a mature spider is 6 cm, the leg span is about 15 cm. These spiders are not aggressive towards people, they do not have toxic poison(except for scalding hairs), are characterized by low growth rates and longevity (females live up to 30 years). Therefore, this type of tarantula is very popular among spider lovers. Comfortable temperature for Aphonopelma seemanni is 24-27 degrees with air humidity at the level of 70-80%.

Brachypelma boehmei

lives in Mexico, preferring to settle in holes. The body length of adult specimens with a leg span reaches 15-18 cm, the length without legs is 7 cm. In addition to the large size of the spiders, they are distinguished by an exceptionally bright black-orange color. These tarantulas are calm and unpretentious, in captivity they feed on locusts, cockroaches and worms. The life expectancy of males is 3-4 years, females live much longer - more than 20 years. The optimum temperature for keeping these tarantulas is 25-27 degrees with a humidity of 70-75%. Due to unauthorized capture and trade, the tarantula Brachypelma boehmei is included in Appendix II of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Species wildlife and endangered flora) as endangered.

Brachypelma klaasi

a Mexican species of tarantula, whose representatives are distinguished by a massive body and short powerful legs with a span of 14-16 cm. This type The spider is black and orange in color, like Brachypelma boehmei, but is distinguished by the presence of thick orange-red hairs covering the belly and legs. Tarantulas of this species live in Mexican semi-deserts and high mountain forests. They have an even, calm character. Female tarantulas live up to 20-25 years. Comfortable for these spiders, the air humidity should be 60-70%, the air temperature should be from 26 to 28 degrees. The bird-eating spider Brachypelma klaasi is endangered, so it is listed in the CITES convention.

Cyclosternum fasciatum

one of the smallest tarantulas, the maximum paw span of which is only 12 cm. But, nevertheless, in terms of the size of the body, it is in no way inferior to its relatives: females grow up to 5 cm in length with a leg span of 10-12 cm, the length of males is 3.5 cm with a paw span of up to 9.5 cm. The body of spiders is painted in dark tones with a reddish tinge: the cephalothorax is red or brown, the belly is black with a red stripe, the legs may be gray, black or brown. Beloved natural place The habitats of these tarantulas are the rainforests of Costa Rica and Guatemala. At home, the tarantula can be quite nervous and aggressive. The comfortable temperature for keeping the tarantula Cyclosternum fasciatum is 26-28 degrees with an air humidity of 75-80%.

Chilean pink tarantula(Grammostola rosea)

a very beautiful tarantula, one of the record holders in the number of sales among members of its family. The total size of an adult spider, taking into account the legs, is 15-16 cm. The color of the body is a variety of variations. Brown: brown, chestnut and sometimes pink. The body and paws are densely strewn with light hairs. The species range covers the southwestern part of the United States and Chile, including the Atacama Desert. Comfortable daily temperature for this type of tarantula is 25 degrees during the day and 18-20 degrees at night, with an air humidity of 60-70%. The spider is not aggressive and combs the hairs very rarely. The life expectancy of females is 15-20 years.

Theraphosa Blond, he is goliath tarantula(Theraphosa blondi)

the biggest spider in the world. A specimen with a leg span of 28 cm was included in the Guinness Book of Records. The body size of a female goliath tarantula reaches 10 cm, for males - 8.5 cm, and the mass of an adult spider can be 170 g. Despite their impressive size, goliath tarantulas have modest disposition, brown coloration, and the paws of spiders are densely strewn with red-brown hairs. Goliath tarantulas inhabit the tropics in the territories of Suriname, Venezuela, Guyana and northern Brazil, where they prey on mice, small snakes, toads, lizards and frogs. Due to the ban on the export of animals from their habitats, goliath tarantulas are a huge rarity not only for terrariumists, but also for collectors. The comfortable temperature for keeping the goliath tarantula is 22-24 degrees with an air humidity of 75-80%. The spider is quite aggressive and can bite its offender.

Reproduction of tarantulas

Male tarantulas reach reproductive age much faster than females. In mature males, a cymbium is formed on the pedipalps, a special reservoir for seminal fluid, and tibal hooks grow on the front legs, designed to hold the female at the time of mating. Before breeding begins, the male tarantula spins a web, covers it with seminal fluid, and then fills his cymbium with it. A male and a female perform a special ritual when they meet, demonstrating their affiliation. general view. The mating process can last a few seconds or drag on for hours. With tibal hooks, the male holds back the partner's chelicerae, and with pedipalps transfers the seminal fluid into her body. During or after mating, a hungry female tarantula often eats the male, so after a successful act, the male tends to escape.

A few months later, the female tarantula builds a nest from the web, where it lays from 50 to 2000 eggs. Their number depends on the type of tarantula. Then, from this nest, the female forms a cocoon, which often has the shape of a ball and contains bristles from the spider's abdomen: they serve as additional protection for the eggs. During the incubation period lasting from 20 to 106 days (which also depends on the type of spider), the female guards future offspring, "incubates" and periodically turns the cocoon. At this time, she becomes especially aggressive.

With a shortage of food, the female may well eat her own cocoon with eggs.

The female tarantula carries a cocoon with eggs. Photo credit: Jetlagvoyage

After a certain period of time, newborn nymph spiders appear from the eggs, which at first do not feed at all, therefore they live together without the threat of cannibalism. After 2 molts, the nymph becomes a larva, which is similar to a fully formed spider, but, unlike it, still has a supply nutrients in the abdomen.

After some time, the larva molts and turns into a young tarantula.

Nymphs of the tarantula Acanthoscurria geniculata. Photo credit: Exoskeleton Invertebrates

Molting tarantula

It is molting that is a particularly important point life cycle spiders. After each discarded exoskeleton, the spider grows 1.5 times and even changes color. A young tarantula molts monthly, an adult tarantula molts once a year. Spiders molt lying on their backs, and in the long process of pulling chelicerae and pedipalps from the old exoskeleton, some limbs may be lost, but they will be restored within the next 3-4 molts. The age of the spider is determined by the number of molts.

Some spiders refuse to eat some time before molting: in small spiders this can happen a week before molting, in adults - 1-3 months.

Signs of the upcoming molting of the tarantula spider may be the darkening of the abdomen of the spider or the darkening of the general color of the tarantula.

Spider-tarantula at home

Tarantulas are extremely unpretentious and easily bred in captivity, so they have long gained fame as popular pets. To avoid cannibalism, tarantulas should be kept alone.

Terrarium

For ground And burrowing (burrowing) spiders will need an elongated terrarium. Its bottom should be covered with a layer of coconut substrate of at least 7-10 cm. When young individuals are kept, the litter is changed after each molt, in adult spiders - once every 4 months.

Norny it is advisable for tarantulas to create a semblance of a mink in the terrarium: for example, put an inverted cup with a broken edge or half a shell coconut with a carved entrance - they will imitate a hole for your pet.

Spiders move well on vertical surfaces, so the terrarium for the tarantula should be equipped with a ventilated cover.

Temperature

Caring for a tarantula is quite simple. The temperature in the spider's dwelling should not fall below +25 degrees; for this, an infrared heater or thermal bedding is used. Sudden temperature changes can be fatal for pet tarantulas.

Air humidity

Tropical species need high air humidity at the level of 80-90%, so you will need regular (once every 2-3 days) spraying of the substrate warm water. Semi-desert species have enough humidity in the range of 70-80%. Make sure the substrate is completely dry before spraying. You can spray only 1 corner of the terrarium.

The required level of humidity can also be maintained by evaporating water from a bowl of clean water, which must be in the terrarium. You need to change the water in the drinking bowl every day.

How to feed a tarantula spider at home?

Tarantulas are omnivorous, the main thing is that the size of the offered food is smaller than the body of the spider.

Young tarantulas are fed with small cockroaches, fruit flies, crickets. You can also add bloodworms or chopped flour worms to the feed.

Adult spiders are fed 1-2 times a week. Live crickets, marbled cockroaches, locusts, flour worms, bloodworms are suitable as food for a tarantula. Some breeders feed their spiders to newborn mice.

The food of the tarantula must be 2 times smaller than the spider itself and preferably alive. This will draw the tarantula's attention to the food. Usually spiders attack the victim by injecting their poison into it and paralyzing the prey in this way. After that, tarantulas tear the victim with powerful chelicerae, injecting gastric juice into it so that the food is digested. After eating, the tarantula can starve for a week, and sometimes for several months. The frequency of feeding the spider should be no more than 1-2 times a week. Remains of food must be removed from the terrarium so that they do not begin to rot.

Please note that all manipulations in the terrarium of a domestic tarantula are best done with long tweezers so as not to be bitten by your pet.

The tarantulas of the genus Avicularia use an original method of defense: they blind the enemy by shooting a stream of excrement in his direction.
The giant goliath tarantula has one competitor in nature: the spider Heteropoda maxima, found in Laos, surpasses the goliath in leg span of 35 cm, but is significantly inferior in size to the body, not exceeding 4.6 cm.
For reasons unknown to science, tarantulas can starve for about 2 years. And some species even know how to swim and dive.
In the treatment of arachnophobia (fear of spiders), patients are advised to get a tarantula to successfully overcompensate for fear, and, according to statistics, this method really works.

As we have already seen, muddy waters The Amazons are fraught with a lot of danger, but land is also not a safe place. Sometimes dense tropical forests hide many dangers, some of which appear before us in the form of very small creatures, such as spiders and frogs.

Under the cover of night, many spiders go out to hunt, including Brazilian black tarantula (lat. Acanthoscurria brocklehursti) which is famous for its aggressive behavior And large sizes. Sometimes representatives of this family of spiders can reach 30 centimeters in diameter. They have a rather formidable appearance and a painful bite. Most species of tarantulas prefer to live in warm climates, making the Amazon forests an ideal home for them. Most of them feed on insects, but the black tarantula is looking for a larger victim - small rodents. It pierces its prey with 2 cm poisonous teeth and injects a dose of neuroparalyzing venom, which makes the victim unable to resist and inflict retaliatory bites.

Brazilian black tarantula (lat. Acanthoscurria brocklehursti). Photo by Ruben Olsen

But in the neighborhood with him another hunts, already smaller in size, but more dangerous spider- This . It got its name because of the nomadic way of life. Wandering spiders do not dig holes or weave webs. They are always on the move, so you can run into them anywhere in South America.

Brazilian wandering spider (lat. Phoneutria fera)

This spider often crawls into human dwellings, so unexpected encounters with it often happen. He does not attack first and bites only in cases of self-defense. But for one such bite, Phoneutria fera squirts a large number of probably more venom than any other spider on earth. According to official figures, only half of the bitten people in Brazil were affected by this type of spider. Its poison is almost 2 times stronger than poison. It contains neurotoxins that immediately attack nervous system bitten, turning off the signals sent to the heart and respiratory muscles. The poison also contains serotonin, which attacks the brain, causing seizures and severe pain. This powerful weapon makes this spider a formidable hunter that can handle any small prey.

For people, it is dangerous because it easily adapts to life in settlements. But not only he has such a love for cities and people. There is another representative of the arachnid class, which is no less dangerous to humans than the previous species. This is a scorpion. About 100 species of scorpions live in South America, 6 of which are deadly. They thrive living in urban environments. There are many hiding places where scorpions can find a safe place for themselves.

We all know that at the tip of its tail is the main weapon of any scorpion - a poisonous sting. In Brazil alone, about 30 people die every year from their bites.

Their venom is an effective means of defense against predators, but most often it is used only for hunting. Scorpions come out in search of prey at night. They prey on small insects and lizards. Also, like spiders, its body is covered with thin sensitive hairs that can pick up the slightest vibrations of prey passing by. Having reached the victim, the scorpion injects poison, which neutralizes it. After a while, the victim's heart and respiratory organs fail.

But even this formidable predator is powerless before the most destructive force of the Amazon.

Stray or wandering ants (lat. Eciton burchellii). Photo by Alex Wild

They wander through tropical forests Central and South America and do not build permanent nests. Instead, roaming ants create temporary "camps" from which to launch their attacks. During long trips, ants carry all their offspring with them. Nothing can leave them - neither rivers, nor deserts, nor human dwellings. The only way to avoid meeting them is not to stand in their way.

Photo by Alex Wild

Each such ant inflicts a very painful bite, somewhat reminiscent of a wasp sting. In extreme cases, their venom can cause a person to go into shock. But roaming ants target smaller prey—those they can eat. When a scout discovers potential prey, he sends enzymatic signals to his "compatriots" using a gland on his stomach. Thousands of comrades answer his call and immediately attack prey. After that, a terrible fate awaits her - she will be dismembered into many small pieces and dragged to a temporary camp to feed her offspring.

Photo by Alex Wild

Not always big hunters attack small ones. In the Amazon, the reverse situation is most often encountered, when a small opponent defeats a larger and stronger one, because he has numerical superiority on his side. Here the proverb is clearly in effect - "One man in the field is not a warrior." But some large animals have their own secret weapon. But we will talk about them in the next issue.

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