Arizona Blond Tarantula
Aphonopelma chalcodes
This desert tarantula lives in dry grasslands and scrub of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, spending much of the day in a silk-lined burrow. It is a slow-moving ambush predator that waits near the burrow entrance for insects, small arthropods, and occasional tiny vertebrates. When threatened, it may rear up in a warning posture, bite if handled, or retreat underground. Females are famously long-lived, sometimes surviving for decades in captivity and many years in the wild.
- Type
- Burrow / Venom
- Conservation status
- NE