Acquaintance with the South Russian tarantula: features of its existence and content in captivity

The South Russian tarantula is a representative of an araneomorphic spider, which belongs to the form of wolf spiders. It is quite large, but not aggressive. Some lovers of exotic love to keep such arachnids in their home as pets.

Description

The South Russian tarantula is the largest spider living in Russia. The dimensions of his body are from 2.5 to 3 cm, while the females are always larger than males. The body is densely covered with hairs. The color is usually gray with spotted black; red and brown are also found tarantulas.
This arachnid has eight eyes, which are arranged in three rows. In the lower row there are two pairs of small eyes, the middle row is occupied by the largest pair, which is central and looks forward, in the upper row are two side small eyes placed just above the middle pair.

On a note! It is believed that he is able to distinguish objects that are at a distance of 30 cm!

Spread

For the South Russian tarantula, a dry climate is most preferred. For this reason, most often it can be found in the steppe, desert and semi-desert regions, less often in the forest-steppe zone. He appears and digs his holes in the fields, on the shores of various reservoirs, as well as in gardens and kitchen gardens. In a word, soft soils are attractive for him, in which he can easily equip his nest.

Earlier, the South Russian tarantula was distributed mainly in Central Asia, as well as in the southern regions of Russia and Ukraine. But due to climate change, these spiders began to make their way farther north, and where they used to be rare, now they are found in quite large quantities.

• In Ukraine, the South Russian tarantula is called Crimean and at the same time it is the largest arachnid that is found in these places. Its burrows with the owner inside are increasingly found by local residents in their personal plots.
• Recently, these tarantulas have taken root in Belarus. They were first discovered there in 2008. These arachnids began to settle quite actively in the floodplains of the Sozh, Dnieper and Pripyat rivers.
• In Bashkiria, South Russian tarantulas lived quite a long time ago, but in 2016 their present invasion was noted. The reason for this was the abnormally warm weather that lasted that year throughout the summer.
  

  On a note! In Bashkiria in 2016, due to the bites of the South Russian tarantula, several people appeared in the hospital!

• In Kazakhstan, several species of tarantulas are common and one of them is South Russian. The habitats are ordinary: the banks of rivers, lakes and salt marshes, and the most active zones are Aktau, Alma-Ata, Aktobe, Shymkent. Particularly large tarantulas are found in Kazakhstan - sometimes their body length reaches 9 cm.
• As for the territory of Russia, in large numbers, South Russian tarantulas were seen in the Astrakhan, Belgorod, Volgograd, Kursk and Saratov regions, as well as in the Tambov, Lipetsk and Orel regions.

Features of existence

The steppe tarantula settles in holes that he himself pulls out, and at the same time he always lines the walls with his own web. The depth of the hole is usually 30-40 m. For hunting, he does not weave trapping nets, and catches prey at the moment when she runs past his nest.
The signal for an attack in this case is the shadow of a potential victim. Recognizing the shape, the spider jumps out of its ambush with lightning speed, grabs the prey with its front paws, immediately thrusts its chelicera into its body and injects poison. When the victim freezes, the tarantula begins the meal.

The diet of the South Russian tarantula includes:

• caterpillars
• crickets;
• ground beetles;
• Bears
• cockroaches;
• beetles.

On a note! South Russian tarantulas often have cases of cannibalism when they eat other spiders, which are smaller species!

Despite the fact that these arachnids are very attached to their hole, single specimens can move away from it at fairly decent distances. Cases have been noted when South Russian tarantulas climbed into residential buildings located in small towns.

Breeding

The mating period falls on the last month of summer, and at this time the males go in search of females. Upon meeting the female, the male must show her his intentions, otherwise he risks being eaten.

The “boyfriend” lifts the front of the body, exposes the first pair of legs and vibrates with the abdomen. In this position, he slowly approaches the female. Ready for mating, she begins to repeat the movements of the male. Immediately after fertilization, the male quickly leaves and prepares for winter: he makes his hole deeper and clogs the entrance with soil.

The fertilized female also leaves in her hole for wintering. With the advent of spring, it appears on the surface and exposes its abdomen under the sun's rays.

On a note! Heat contributes to the rapid development of eggs in the abdomen. By the way, it is this ritual that often leads to dehydration of the female body and it can lose about 30% of its weight!

When the maturation of the eggs in the abdomen ends, the female weaves a silk cocoon from the web. She lays eggs laid in it and wears some time on her abdomen. At the same time, a cocoon with future offspring is always in its field of vision and the female actively protects it in any situation. If she feels the danger, then right there violently clings to the cocoon with chelicera and it will not work to take it away.

As soon as the female feels that the spiders begin to leave the eggs, she breaks the cocoon and helps the kids get out. Young individuals climb onto the body of the mother, and for a while she wears them on her.

Gradually, the stronger offspring leaves the body of the mother, settling in the district.

In the natural habitat, the South Russian tarantula lives for about two years, in captivity a little longer, due to the lack of winter suspended animation, which to some extent slows down its development.

Consequences of a bite

For a person, the South Russian tarantula is not particularly dangerous. Of course, he can bite, but he will never be the first to attack. Representatives of this species are not aggressive and attack only for self-defense. Therefore, disturbing the tarantula or picking it up without special need is highly discouraged.

With a bite, a person may feel a burning sensation and pain. Usually, edema forms in this place, sometimes the skin acquires a yellow color and is restored only after a couple of months. Due to the low concentration, the poison of this arachnid death does not cause a person.

However, if there is an allergy to bites of spiders or insects, an allergic reaction may develop, the manifestations of which will be:

• strong pain;
• itching
• rash around the affected area;
• general malaise;
• dizziness;
• drowsiness.

Important! If a South Russian tarantula bit a child, then seek medical help immediately!

Home content

If you decide to keep the South Russian tarantula at home, then in this case, remember that it is quite fast and does not tolerate errors in handling.When trying to protect himself, he can jump to a height of about 15 cm and will certainly bite.

Concerning directly contentthen the South Russian tarantula is unpretentious. He needs:

• vertical terrarium from which the spider will not be able to get out on its own;
• a fairly thick layer of substrate - at least 30 cm, so that your pet can dig its holes in it;
• a drinking bowl, in which every day there will be clean and fresh water, while the spider should have free access to it;
• food - for the South Russian tarantula I usually get feed insects, the body size of which should correspond to the size of the body of the spider itself.

Important! Feeding South Tarantula insects from the street is highly not recommended!