Imagine a hairy spider the size of your hand hunting in the moonlight! Tarantulas have thrived for 150 million years because they’re nature’s perfect predators with surprisingly diverse diets that keep ecosystems balanced.
Tarantulas primarily eat insects like crickets, beetles, and roaches, but larger species also consume small vertebrates including mice, lizards, frogs, and occasionally birds. Their diet varies based on habitat, size, and hunting strategy.
The tarantula’s diet varies significantly by habitat, emphasizing their role in the ecosystem.
Key Points:
- Tarantulas mainly eat insects like crickets and roaches
- Bigger tarantulas sometimes eat small animals like mice and lizards
- Different types of tarantulas eat different foods based on where they live
- Tarantulas use venom to catch their food
- Young tarantulas eat more often than adult ones
Main Foods Tarantulas Eat
Tarantulas are not picky eaters. They will eat almost any animal they can catch and kill. Here is what makes up most of their diet:
| Food Type | How Much They Eat | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Insects | 70-85% of their food | Crickets, roaches, beetles |
| Other spiders | 5-10% of their food | Wolf spiders, jumping spiders |
| Small animals | 5-15% of their food | Mice, lizards, frogs, small birds |
| Other bugs | 5-10% of their food | Millipedes, centipedes, worms |
“Tarantulas are opportunistic feeders that will eat almost anything they can overpower,” says Dr. Linda Rayor, spider expert from Cornell University. “Their diet is mostly based on what they can find in their home area.”
Talk about not being a fussy eater! If tarantulas were at a restaurant, they’d be the ones saying “I’ll have whatever’s crawling by” instead of studying the menu. During my trip to Arizona last summer, I watched a desert tarantula pounce on a beetle that wandered too close to its burrow. The poor beetle never knew what hit it – it was like watching a furry linebacker tackle a running back!
How Different Tarantulas Eat
Not all tarantulas eat the same foods. What they eat depends on:
- Where they live
- How big they are
- What time of year it is
Here are some tarantula feeding habits by type:
- Desert tarantulas (like Aphonopelma species) eat lots of beetles and sometimes small lizards
- Tree tarantulas (like Poecilotheria species) catch flying bugs and other creatures that live in trees
- Goliath birdeaters (Theraphosa blondi) from South American rainforests can eat small birds, though they mostly eat big insects
- Mexican red-knee tarantulas (Brachypelma species) hunt ground bugs and sometimes small lizards
It’s like different tarantulas have their own favorite restaurants depending on where they live. Desert tarantulas hit up the “Beetle Bistro,” while tree tarantulas prefer “Flying Insect Café.” The Goliath birdeater – now that’s the spider equivalent of a foodie who’s not afraid to try exotic dishes!
How Tarantulas Hunt
Tarantulas have several ways to find and catch food. Their hunting techniques include:
- Ambush hunting – hiding and waiting for prey to come close
- Using silk webs as trip wires to feel when prey is near
- Active hunting – walking around looking for food (less common)
“The most amazing part of tarantula hunting behavior is how they can sense tiny movements through their legs,” explains Dr. Sam Marshall, director of the Arachnid Research Center. “They don’t need to see their prey – they can feel it coming.”
Tarantulas with burrows have the best hunting success rate (70-90%) because they wait at the entrance and surprise their food. This uses less energy than walking around hunting.
You know how I hate getting up from the couch once I’m comfortable? Tarantulas totally get me. Why chase your dinner when you can let dinner come to you? These spiders are the ultimate couch potatoes of the hunting world, and honestly, I respect that energy-saving strategy!
How Often Tarantulas Eat
Tarantulas don’t need to eat every day. Here’s how often they usually eat in the wild:
- Rainforest tarantulas: Every 5-10 days
- Desert tarantulas: Every 10-30 days (depends on rain)
- Temperate region tarantulas: Every 7-14 days (less in winter)
Young tarantulas eat more often than adults. Spiderlings (baby tarantulas) might eat every 2-4 days, while adult tarantulas can go weeks without food.
If you think intermittent fasting is trendy, tarantulas have been doing it for millions of years! Meanwhile, their babies are like teenagers raiding the fridge every few hours. Just last month, the wildlife documentary “Tiny Giants” featured a sequence showing how desert tarantulas can survive the dry season by slowing their metabolism to a crawl – talk about extreme dieting!
How Tarantulas Digest Their Food
Tarantulas have an interesting way of eating. They don’t chew their food like we do. Instead:
- They use their fangs to inject venom that paralyzes their prey
- They release digestive juices onto their prey
- These juices turn the prey’s insides into liquid
- The tarantula sucks up this liquid like a drink
- They throw away the empty shell
This is called external digestion. It’s very different from how humans eat!
Imagine going to a restaurant, stabbing your steak with two giant forks, pouring your stomach acid all over it, then drinking it with a straw! That’s basically the tarantula dining experience. It’s the spider version of a smoothie, if you think about it. Gross? Maybe. Efficient? Absolutely!
Diet Changes As Tarantulas Grow
What tarantulas eat changes as they grow:
| Life Stage | What They Eat | How Often They Eat |
|---|---|---|
| Babies | Tiny bugs | Every 2-4 days |
| Young | Small crickets | Every 5-7 days |
| Nearly grown | Medium insects | Every 7-14 days |
| Adults | Large insects, sometimes small animals | Every 10-30 days |
Just like how my nephew went from picky eater to bottomless pit during his teen years, tarantulas have their own growth-related appetite changes. But unlike human teenagers who might raid your pantry for snacks, a teenage tarantula is more likely to raid the local insect population!
Tarantulas in Nature’s Food Chain
Tarantulas help control pest populations in nature. They eat many insects that might otherwise become too numerous. This makes them important for ecosystem balance.
However, tarantulas aren’t at the top of the food chain. They can be eaten by:
- Birds (especially hawks and owls)
- Lizards
- Snakes
- Mammals like coatis and foxes
- Tarantula hawk wasps
Dr. Petra Sierwald of the Field Museum notes, “Tarantulas play a vital role in ecological balance as both predator and prey in their habitats.”
In the circle of life, tarantulas are the middle managers – they boss around the insects but still answer to bigger predators. It’s a spider-eat-bug world out there! When conservation groups met in Phoenix this January to discuss desert ecosystem preservation, tarantulas were highlighted as “indicator species” whose health reflects the overall balance of their habitats.
Why This Matters
Understanding what tarantulas eat helps us:
- Keep pet tarantulas healthy
- Learn about how natural food webs work
- See how important all animals are in nature
For more information about tarantulas and their role in nature, visit the American Arachnological Society.
Tarantulas are amazing hunters with special ways of finding, catching, and eating their food. Their feeding ecology has helped them survive for millions of years in many different places around the world.
Listen, I know not everyone wants to cuddle up with a tarantula like I might (okay, even I draw the line at cuddles), but these incredible creatures deserve our respect. They’re nature’s perfect pest control system, operating without chemicals or batteries for over 100 million years! Next time you see a tarantula, maybe give it a little nod of appreciation – just don’t try to shake its hand. It has eight, and they’re all busy looking for its next meal!
