There are over 1,000 species of tarantulas on earth! The Amazon is home to many of these species.
Tarantulas are large, thick, and often fuzzy spiders. Many people find tarantulas very scary looking!
I thought I would be really scared when I saw one, but I actually wasn't. They are so furry, they're almost cute! Also, they are scared of humans. When I was in the jungle, they would just stand still, and once I got really close, they would go hide in their "houses." The ones I saw on buildings didn't move at all, even when I got close.
The tarantulas in this region live in the jungle. They create little burrows, or "houses," in the ground or in the bottom or trees to protect themselves from predators. They are also nocturnal animals, meaning they sleep during the day and are awake during the night, so these "hiding spots" protect them during the day while they sleep.
Tarantulas eat insects, such as grasshoppers, beetles, and smaller spiders. Most have no teeth, so they use their venom to liquefy their prey, then "suck up" their meal. Wasps, lizards, snakes, some birds, and some mammals pray on tarantulas, so tarantulas use their environment to create burrows to stay safe.
