RED ISLAND BIRD EATING TARANTULA
Phormictopus atrichomatus
Red island bird eaters are native to the island of Hispaniola, otherwise known as Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Throughout their life they go through a dramatic color change: as spiderlings, they start with shades of pink or blue on their legs with a dark carapace or what might look like their head as well as red and black stripes on their undersides, but as adults they are typically bronze or brown and can appear to have a pink shine to them after they molt. Like all tarantulas, they have four pairs of legs, making eight legs total, and they have four other appendages near the mouth called the chelicerae, which contain the fangs and venom, and pedipalps, which are used as feelers and claws. Due to their bodies being made up this way spiders are technically not insects, but arachnids, because insects have three body parts and six legs total, whereas tarantulas and spiders have two body parts and eight legs total. These tarantulas have earned their name for the venom they contain and the strength it must take down birds, however, it is not strong enough to affect humans more than anaphylactic shock or an allergic reaction.
Click HERE for a Tarantula Activity Sheet!
OUR CURRENT RESIDENT
Bingo, Gender Unknown- Hatched on September 1st, 2021 (estimated and celebrated)
Bingo came to live at ZooMontana in March 2022 from Eden Exotics, Lolo Montana. Bingo is located inside by the doors to the community room that exits back out to the zoo by our gate, their habitat is small and, on an angle on the wall, so don’t miss them on your way out!
TAXONOMY
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Class: Arachnida
- Order: Araneae
- Family: Theraphosidae
- Genus: Phormictopus
- Species: Phormictopus atrichomatus
ANIMAL FACTS
Carnivore: mainly eat insects, frogs, spiders, mice, and birds (as the name implies) (and eat infrequently)
Population Status: currently listed as Not Listed
Habitat: wet rainforest floors
Activity: nocturnal- mostly active during the night