Are you a Tarantula hobbyist? If so, we invite you to join our community! Once you join you'll be able to post messages, upload pictures of your pets and enclosures and chat with other Tarantula enthusiasts. Sign up today!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Poec54" data-source="post: 40812" data-attributes="member: 3524">It's a response to an intruder that gets too close, not a spider going after people randomly from a distance.  They want to make sure you get the message to leave.  A 'spirited' defense, but still a defense.  I imagine that monkeys and apes go after the fruits in the trees and palms Stromatopelma live in, and probably wouldn't mind snacking on a spider too if they ran across one.  Stromatopelma wouldn't have evolved this behavior unless it aided their survival.  To me, 'aggressive' is initiating an attack, and 'defensive' is responding to an attack or potential imminent attack.  Defense can involve movement in any direction required until the intruder leaves and the threat is over.  If you stay away from a Stromatopelma, you have nothing to worry about; get too close and you may get a lesson you won't soon forget.  I can picture monkeys tormenting arboreal tarantulas, who have limited options for where to hide, and that may be one reason most arboreal tarantulas have stronger venoms (potentially all except the Avic group).As you walk down the street, dogs may bark and even chase you when you're close to their yard, and stop after you've passed.  They didn't seek you out.  You were an intruder that entered their territory and they asked you to leave in a way that got your attention.   Although you may get bit, it was your advance that prompted the incident.  They responded.  They see you as an unwelcome animal creating a problem and them as fully justified in resolving it.  In the animal world, that's defensive behavior.  In the human world of laws and ordinances, it's aggressive, as we don't like dogs to defend their territory.  When doing routine maintenance, compare a B smithi kicking hairs to a Stromatopelma running towards you: both are defensive responses to your presence.  Benevolent as our intentions may be, the human initiated the incident.  Territory was invaded.  We may consider the smithi's response as reasonable, and the Stromatopelma's excessive, but we don't know the intensity of predation they encounter in their native habitats.  Evolution has taught them what is 'too close' and what is an effective method of hastening an intruder's departure.</blockquote>

Verification