How Do Tarantulas Climb Walls Without Falling?
Some researchers are baffled as to how a giant and heavy spider can support its own weight when crawling up walls and hanging upside down. A group of researchers set up an experiment with the sole purpose of solving this riddle. The results of the study demonstrated that tarantulas shoot tiny strands of super-strong spider silk from microscopic spigots located at the tips of their legs.
Having this silky thread available, like most smaller spiders do, may be the reason why tarantulas have not died out. Tarantulas are relatively heavy for spiders. They weigh, on average, fifty grams, so there is likely not a day that goes by in a spider’s life when it does not almost fall to its death, and yes, tarantulas can die from seemingly short falls on account of their relatively heavy body weight. In fact, even a shortfall that a small insect could simply get up and crawl away from would kill a heavy tarantula.
Tarantulas, like many spiders, have their silk producing organs located on their abdomens. The organs are called spinnerets. Instead of building intricate webs, tarantulas instead use their silk primarily for building nests on level ground. Amazingly, tarantulas have even been observed using their silk to build hammocks for a bit of relaxation. Just try picturing an multi-eyed and hairy tarantula basking in his/her own manmade hammock while soaking up the sun.
Of course, tarantulas can produce spider silk from their feet as well as their abdomens, much like the majority of spiders. However, tarantulas rarely use the spinnerets located at the tips of their legs because they have no practical use for the silk. Experts are now under the impression that tarantulas only make use of the spinnerets on their legs when they find themselves slipping down a wall. Other researches who have studied tarantulas from all parts of the globe insist that every tarantulas in existence is able to emit silk from the tips of its eight legs. Since ancient arachnids only emitted silk from their abdomens, researchers speculate that the tarantula’s possession of spinnerets on their abdomens as well as their legs may indicate that tarantulas represent an evolutionary link between ancient spiders and modern living spiders.
Have you ever witnessed a tarantula travel vertically along a ninety degree smooth surface? If you have, did the tarantulas make it to the top, or did it slip off prematurely?