tarantula baby kill

[tali122]

ive heard that tarantulas kill 99.9% of their babies - is this true?

[MrsJo49155]

I always believed that female tarantulas are really good spider mums and they don't let their young ones out of their sight. Female tarantulas and many other spiders carry their cocoons with them. After the baby spiders hatch out, the female may carry them on her back for a while. If one spider baby falls off, she quickly retrieves it.

So not really sure which is correct!?

[gen2]

According to the adverts, it is Kleenex, Lysol and Domestos that have this level of lethality. Imagine a new product called Tarantula ' Kills 99.9% of all known babies'. Can't see people rushing to buy it.

Sorry. I thought this was in the adverts section.

[logman]

Not an expert on Arachnids but i think if this was the case, it would not be a very sccessful species.

I do know that in some spp the male is often eaten after mating with the female ie black widow.

[Kingaroo]

Many species have large litters, from which only a few individuals survive. Think of all those little sea turtles scuttling across the sand trying to make it into the water before a seagull snaps them up. And the baby spiders in Charlotte's Web floating off on their parachures. Maybe the quote you heard was about the percent that do not make it to adulthood for whatever cause -- probably not due to their mother killing them.

[logman]

Yes that makes a lot of sence, kingaroo. If the mother spider lost count and eat one to many, the next generation may not exist.

Many animals produce vast numbers of eggs/young ie frogs spawn, fish eggs, to compensate for many of them being eaten, sometimes by their own kind, safety in numbers is a phrase that springs to mind..