Communication and Reproductive Biology of Tarantulas

Abstract

Theraphosidae spiders (commonly known as tarantulas) comprise some of the largest known spiders. It is the most diverse family among Mygalomorphae and Theraphosinae, endemic to the Neotropics, is the richest subfamily. However, the knowledge on some aspects of their reproductive biology is still unknown. Usually, the sexual behavior of tarantulas has been considered as “simple,” that is, males just walk searching for females and when they randomly find one, the mating should occur. This point of view is changing as the number of studies has grown during the last 20 years, suggesting that the sexual behavior of Theraphosidae is far from simple. Such complexity may be represented by specific searching and court- ship behavior of males and active roles of females, leading to an intricate intersexual communication before mating, the occurrence of male copulatory, and complex pat- terns of palpal insertions. This chapter describes the ways of communication of tarantulas mainly during the sexual encounters. The patterns of courtship and copu- lation of representatives of most subfamilies will be described based on a biblio- graphic review. Finally, some general strategies of mating and reproduction of tarantulas will be discussed and topics for future research are presented.