'Ding dong, it's time': dancing tarantulas emerge in droves to mate in western US
Daaaaaaaawwwww! It’s the universal story! Boy meets girl, girl agrees to lay eggs on sperm-covered silk blanket, girl eats boy.
The Guardian said:Gaggles of tarantulas are emerging from their burrows across the western US on a quest to mate, hunting for love in prairies, foothills and a garage belonging to Kim Kardashian West.
From August to October, the eight-legged crawlers go on a walkabout for a once-in-a-lifetime foray to find a partner. The phenomenon is now occurring on a unusually large scale from northern California to Colorado and Texas, shining a light on the arachnids’ remarkable mating behavior, which can involve dancing and cannibalism.
For the first five to eight years of their lives, males live in a burrow, eating insects and maybe a mouse or snake. Tarantulas are wait-and-see predators; it’s quite a solitary life. “Then one day, they just pick up and leave in search of a willing female,” said Ana Cholo, a National Park Service public affairs officer who keeps a tarantula as a pet.
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Daaaaaaaawwwww! It’s the universal story! Boy meets girl, girl agrees to lay eggs on sperm-covered silk blanket, girl eats boy.