Tarantula's Body

Many people are afraid of tarantulas. While these misunderstood creatures can seem to be aggressive, they are just trying to survive as they have for thousands of years. There are over 800 types of tarantulas documented. They are found all over the world from the West coast of the United States to the Outback of Australia.
Tarantulas are Arthropods, which means they are invertebrates and have an exoskeleton. A tarantula's body consists of two main parts, the cephalothorax and opisthosoma or abdomen. The cephalothorax is the center part of the spider where its fangs are located and the legs and pedipalps connect to the body. The pedipalps are shorter leg appendages located by its mouth that are used by males in mating and also to grip and feel what's in front of it. The abdomen is connected to the cephalothorax by the pedicel which is joint like is allows the abdomen to move freely in many direction. The abdomen holds many of the spiders vital organs such as the heart and digestive system. The silk producing gland is also located in the abdomen near its rump where there is a pair

There are two types of tarantulas. First Terrestrial, which spend most of their time on the ground or in burrows. These tarantulas will lay web on the ground both in and around its burrow. The spider will then be able to detect if there is something outside their burrow via the vibrations on the web. The other type is Arboreal which means tree dwelling. These types will build the more intricate webs like funnels. Their webs are used as a shelter for when the tarantula molts. Molting is a wherein the spider will shed its old exoskeleton and it replaced with a new one that forms underneath the old one. This process allows the spider to grow and will replace any lost limbs, which may take several molts to fully heal, and replace the urticating hairs if the spices of tarantula has