How do spiders manage all of these limbs?
Speaking of horrible nightmares, here are two photographs of my Halloween costume. I chose to dress as a redknee tarantula (Brachypelma smithi) a large terrestrial spider from the Sierra Madre mountain range in Mexico. Spiders of this species mature very slowly and become adults late, which makes it an ideal costume. In all seriousness though, these spiders suffer from an extreme sexual dimorphism. Males and females are of a similar size and look alike, but while female spiders can live for thirty years or longer, males are usually dead before they reach five. Talk about scary!
I’ll write something more serious about dreams, nightmares and our ability to understand the world tomorrow. In the mean time have some candy and enjoy the holiday with your friends and family! Happy Halloween!
ferrebeekeeper 
6 comments
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October 31, 2014 at 9:05 PM
allthoughtswork
How embarrassing would it be to meet another Brachypelma smithi at the party and have to fight him to the death over the affections of the cute lady jumping spider at the bar? *facepalm
November 4, 2014 at 12:10 AM
Wayne
Ha! That would have been mortifying! 🙂
Fortunately there were no other Halloween tarantulas where I was. However one of my legs did fall off early on in the evening… and I was never the same spider thereafter.
November 4, 2014 at 1:01 AM
allthoughtswork
(sigh) I see so many seven-legged spiders nowadays. It’s a sign of the times, the world is a violent place. It’s hard even to be a predator anymore.
November 1, 2014 at 10:23 AM
mom
Those knee high socks and short pants are quite flattering. I don’t know about those extra arms.
November 3, 2014 at 10:46 AM
Beatrix
I have to agree with mom, the socks & short pants are quite fetching.
Where are the red knees though?
I’m almost afraid to ask why the male spiders die before the age of 5?
November 4, 2014 at 12:08 AM
Wayne
I was afraid to ask as well! It seems like “red” is a bit of a poetic shorthand for ruddy–because the spiders have orange knees (so many orange knees) as you can see in this photo of a redknee tarantula playing with a bottlecap…