Mexican Red Kneed Tarantula

Mexican Red Kneed Tarantula

The Mexican Red Kneed Tarantula is also called the Mexican Orange Kneed Tarantula. Its scientific name is the Barachypelma Smithii. They live along the Pacific coast of Mexico in scrubland and dessert, also in South Africa. They can live to be about 10 -25 years old. They can weight anywhere between 0.06-0.19 pounds, and their length is 5-5.5 inches. They are very territorial and live in their burrows where they spend most of their time. Their bodies are black with bright red knees and are covered with tiny hairs. They have eight legs, but six are used for walking. The other two are used for catching prey.

At the end of their legs are palps that allow them to smell, taste, and feel. They have eight eyes that enable them to see from front to back. Their eyesight is not that good so they have to rely on their sensitive leg hairs for guidance.

They are connivers. They eat insects, fuzzy mice, anoles, and other small lizards. In order for them to eat these things they must inject them with venom and venom liquefies it so the tarantula can suck outs its fluid. It has to do all this because it cannot digest its food. They are also nocturnal.

Mexican Reed Kneed Tarantulas breed when they are about two years old. After they mate, the female may eat the male. The female can lay anywhere between 400 to 1,000 eggs between July and September, after the rainy season. The female will make a silk cocoon, which the eggs are laid in. Then the female will seal the cocoon until they are ready to hatch, which takes 2-8 weeks. Once they are hatched they leave the web and go live on their own.

Their kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species are; Animalia, Arthropoda, Arachinda, Theraphosidae, Brachypelme, and Smithii.