The Life of a Male Tarantula
Meet Tammy, the tarantula. Tammy, as my friend explained, is female; generally preferred by tarantula owners. That’s because female tarantulas, comfortably burrowed in her cage, can live 25 years.
Now, if Tammy was in her homeland - the chaotic Amazon rainforest, filled with predators looking for an easy snack…she’d also burrow down. Life expectancy 25.
But her future beau, Thomas, doesn’t have such an easy time.
After five long years of solitude, Thomas emerges from his burrow for the last time. Tibial hooks have grown out of his front legs; his next molt will remain stuck on him, until he suffocates on his own exoskeleton.
Thomas is now on a race against the clock.
His journey is no leisurely stroll. His dark, hairy legs carry him swiftly across the terrain, guided by the faintest traces of pheromones left by potential mates. But these same scents might lead him straight into the mandibles of predators. Along the way, he hides from snakes, coyotes and foxes, and even spider-eating birds.
Thomas manages to dodge the bane of his existence, the tarantula hawk wasp. His brother ran afoul - the wasp stung him, lacing him with paralytic venom. Then, the wasp dragged him to a burrow, laid an egg within his abdomen, and buried him, now a future snack for her offspring, alive.
As night falls, Thomas detects a promising signal. He approaches a burrow, his legs tapping out a gentle rhythm - a courtship dance meant to let her know he’s here, and he’s not food. The occupant emerges: Tammy, a female tarantula, likely twice Thomas' age and certainly twice his size.
This is his moment. He's spent his entire life preparing, and nature has equipped him well.
With a burst of energy, Thomas lunges forward. His cursed, suicidal, tibial hooks find their mark, latching onto the female's fangs and moving them out of the way. It's a precarious position - one wrong move and he could end up as his date's dinner. But Thomas holds firm, using his pedipalps - specialized appendages near his mouth - to deftly transfer a packet of sperm into the female's abdominal cavity. After seven long years, and a single minute of glory, mission accomplished.
Thomas, now faces his most critical test: the retreat. He carefully unhooks himself from the female's fangs and scuttles backward, relying on his sense of touch. His poor eyesight - a trait shared by all tarantulas - is of little use now. Even so, he keeps a wary eye on Tammy. Female tarantulas, if they’re feeling peckish, often consider their partners as a post-coital snack.
Thomas has survived his first mating encounter, but his journey is far from over. He might attempt to mate again if he can muster the strength. However, his days are numbered. Unlike Tammy, who may live for decades, and produce a new egg sac each year, Thomas's life cycle is nearing its end.
Tarantulas rarely live more than a couple months after mating. In the coming weeks, exhaustion will overtake Thomas. He'll find a quiet spot in the jungle, perhaps under the shelter of a rock or a tuft of grass. There, having fulfilled his purpose, Thomas will close his eight eyes for the last time.
It's a bittersweet end for our eight-legged Romeo. But his genes will live on in the thousands of tarantulas emerging from Tammy’s next sac. The thousand males will look up to their sire; only one or two may live to replicate the feat down the line.