There is always the risk of not knowing exactly what you will get when once you have ordered something online.
But the last thing you would expect to find scuttling around among your goods is a large, hairy tarantula, which is what happened to one mystery shopper.
Horrified by the fearsome looking creature, the middle-aged woman immediately took it to Chessington Zoo, Surrey, where she handed it over.
'She didn't want to leave any details. She said she'd bought something online, and when it arrived she'd spotted something in the bottom of the box, and she didn't want to keep it,' said Rob Ward, one of the zoo's spider experts, to the Independent.
He said the woman wouldn't say what she ordered or where it came from but several months later staff are still baffled as to what type of species it is. 'It's very fast, it's very aggressive, and it's very big,' he said.
It is thought the creature could be a type of African baboon spider, of which there are at least 49, with around 900 different types of tarantula.
The spiders feed on lizards, small mammals and crickets in the wild but the one being kept at the zoo is being fed on insects.
It spends most of its time hiding away in its enclosure, a large sweet jar in an office where staff work, but sometimes gets a little adventurous and gives workers the run around.
Mr Ward said that it is only handled with gloves, because it might be poisonous, which makes it harder to find out the sex because they are prevented from manipulating it in such a way to find out.
Tests can be performed to find out the exact type and where it is likely to have lived in the past but this can only be done once it has died.
It is only thought to be a couple of years old and currently spends most of its day building a web around some sticks.
Staff have decided not to put it on display, mainly because they are unsure of what it is and wouldn't know how to label it. They also haven't decided on an appropriate name for it.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2038476/Mystery-online-shopper-hands-large-hairy-tarantula-Chessington-Zoo.html#ixzz1YUjpx8GK
Showing posts with label tarantulas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tarantulas. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Tarantulas eject silk from feet
16 May 2011
By Victoria Gill
Reporter, BBC Nature
Tarantulas eject silk through their feet to anchor themselves to slippery, vertical surfaces, say scientists.
The discovery, published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, shows how these large but very fragile spiders avoid potentially lethal falls.
The team designed an experiment to dislodge the spiders' feet slightly, by gently shaking a glass tank as they climbed up the side.
Examining glass slides from under the tarantulas' feet revealed their secret.
Like all spiders, tarantulas have attachment hairs on their feet. But, for very large tarantulas, this system for sticking is stretched to its limit.
The idea that they had this Spiderman-like ability was first proposed in 2006 by researchers in Germany, who published a paper on the topic in the journal Nature.
But this was quickly refuted by another group that claimed the silk came from the spiders' spinnerets - their specialised silk-spinning organs - and had simply brushed on to the tarantulas' feet.
So Claire Rind and her colleagues from the University of Newcastle set out to design an experiment to test the theory.
Shaking spider
"They're awesome creatures, and they have this beautiful way of moving that really fascinated me," she told BBC News.
She and her colleagues designed an experimental "arena" for their three Chilean rose tarantulas. This consisted of a glass tank with microscope slides stuck to the bottom.
They placed each tarantula on to the floor of the tank and upended it so that the spider was suspended from its feet on the vertical glass pane.
The crucial test was to find out what happened when they made the spider feel unsteady, so they gave the tank a very gentle shake.
"We couldn't see any traces of silk with the naked eye," said Dr Rind, "but when we removed the slides and examined them under the microscope, we saw up to 30 silken threads at the point where the tarantula's foot slipped.
"So our experiments to dislodge the spider made it release silk through its feet."
The next stage of the experiment was to make sure that the silk had come from the spiders' feet.
This is where Dr Rind's own pet Mexican flame knee tarantula, named Fluffy, came into the study.
Tarantulas moult their skins periodically as they grow and Dr Rind had collected all of the Fluffy's moulted skins.
She examined these - along with moults from the Chilean rose spiders involved in the study and a moult from an Indian ornamental spider - with a powerful electron microscope and saw tiny silk-producing structures, or spigots, sticking out beyond the microscopic hairs on the spiders' feet.
Looking at the tarantula family tree, Dr Rind found that the three species involved in the research were very distantly related.
"So it's likely that all tarantulas produce silk threads from their feet," she said.
"Tarantulas are quite a primitive, ancient species."
They seem to produce just two types of silk - one from their spinnerets and one from their feet.
"Many modern spiders' spinnerets produce several different types of silk, with several different functions."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/13382903
By Victoria Gill
Reporter, BBC Nature
Tarantulas eject silk through their feet to anchor themselves to slippery, vertical surfaces, say scientists.
The discovery, published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, shows how these large but very fragile spiders avoid potentially lethal falls.
The team designed an experiment to dislodge the spiders' feet slightly, by gently shaking a glass tank as they climbed up the side.
Examining glass slides from under the tarantulas' feet revealed their secret.
Like all spiders, tarantulas have attachment hairs on their feet. But, for very large tarantulas, this system for sticking is stretched to its limit.
The idea that they had this Spiderman-like ability was first proposed in 2006 by researchers in Germany, who published a paper on the topic in the journal Nature.
But this was quickly refuted by another group that claimed the silk came from the spiders' spinnerets - their specialised silk-spinning organs - and had simply brushed on to the tarantulas' feet.
So Claire Rind and her colleagues from the University of Newcastle set out to design an experiment to test the theory.
Shaking spider
"They're awesome creatures, and they have this beautiful way of moving that really fascinated me," she told BBC News.
She and her colleagues designed an experimental "arena" for their three Chilean rose tarantulas. This consisted of a glass tank with microscope slides stuck to the bottom.
They placed each tarantula on to the floor of the tank and upended it so that the spider was suspended from its feet on the vertical glass pane.
The crucial test was to find out what happened when they made the spider feel unsteady, so they gave the tank a very gentle shake.
"We couldn't see any traces of silk with the naked eye," said Dr Rind, "but when we removed the slides and examined them under the microscope, we saw up to 30 silken threads at the point where the tarantula's foot slipped.
"So our experiments to dislodge the spider made it release silk through its feet."
The next stage of the experiment was to make sure that the silk had come from the spiders' feet.
This is where Dr Rind's own pet Mexican flame knee tarantula, named Fluffy, came into the study.
Tarantulas moult their skins periodically as they grow and Dr Rind had collected all of the Fluffy's moulted skins.
She examined these - along with moults from the Chilean rose spiders involved in the study and a moult from an Indian ornamental spider - with a powerful electron microscope and saw tiny silk-producing structures, or spigots, sticking out beyond the microscopic hairs on the spiders' feet.
Looking at the tarantula family tree, Dr Rind found that the three species involved in the research were very distantly related.
"So it's likely that all tarantulas produce silk threads from their feet," she said.
"Tarantulas are quite a primitive, ancient species."
They seem to produce just two types of silk - one from their spinnerets and one from their feet.
"Many modern spiders' spinnerets produce several different types of silk, with several different functions."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/13382903
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
'Operation Spiderman' Busts Man Accused of Mailing Tarantulas
A German man has been arrested in Los Angeles for allegedly mailing more than 500 live tarantulas to the U.S., authorities said.
Special agents from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Postal Inspection Service arrested Sven Koppler when he traveled to Los Angeles to meet with an associate, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles said.
Koppler, 37, of Wachtberg, Germany, is accused of sending more than 500 live tarantulas through the mail. The spiders included 22 Mexican red-kneed tarantulas, a protected species whose formal name is Brachypelma smithi.
Authorities say Koppler was paid $300,000 for the arachnids.
If found guilty, he could serve up to 20 years in prison and pay a fine of as much $250,000.
"The entire Brachypelma genus is protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) because it is being threatened by international trade," the U.S. Attorney's Office said. "Specimens can only be legally traded if CITES permits first are obtained from the exporting country."
The arrest was the culmination of an investigation known as "Operation Spiderman."
Authorities began tracking Koppler in March, when they discovered about 300 live tarantulas during a routine search of an international package.
Agents then engaged Koppler in a sting operation, ordering and receiving dozens of live tarantulas, authorities said.
Hugh Collins Contributor
AOL News
Special agents from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Postal Inspection Service arrested Sven Koppler when he traveled to Los Angeles to meet with an associate, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles said.
Koppler, 37, of Wachtberg, Germany, is accused of sending more than 500 live tarantulas through the mail. The spiders included 22 Mexican red-kneed tarantulas, a protected species whose formal name is Brachypelma smithi.
Authorities say Koppler was paid $300,000 for the arachnids.
If found guilty, he could serve up to 20 years in prison and pay a fine of as much $250,000.
"The entire Brachypelma genus is protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) because it is being threatened by international trade," the U.S. Attorney's Office said. "Specimens can only be legally traded if CITES permits first are obtained from the exporting country."
The arrest was the culmination of an investigation known as "Operation Spiderman."
Authorities began tracking Koppler in March, when they discovered about 300 live tarantulas during a routine search of an international package.
Agents then engaged Koppler in a sting operation, ordering and receiving dozens of live tarantulas, authorities said.
Hugh Collins Contributor
AOL News
'Operation Spiderman' Busts Man Accused of Mailing Tarantulas
A German man has been arrested in Los Angeles for allegedly mailing more than 500 live tarantulas to the U.S., authorities said.
Special agents from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Postal Inspection Service arrested Sven Koppler when he traveled to Los Angeles to meet with an associate, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles said.
Koppler, 37, of Wachtberg, Germany, is accused of sending more than 500 live tarantulas through the mail. The spiders included 22 Mexican red-kneed tarantulas, a protected species whose formal name is Brachypelma smithi.
Authorities say Koppler was paid $300,000 for the arachnids.
If found guilty, he could serve up to 20 years in prison and pay a fine of as much $250,000.
"The entire Brachypelma genus is protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) because it is being threatened by international trade," the U.S. Attorney's Office said. "Specimens can only be legally traded if CITES permits first are obtained from the exporting country."
The arrest was the culmination of an investigation known as "Operation Spiderman."
Authorities began tracking Koppler in March, when they discovered about 300 live tarantulas during a routine search of an international package.
Agents then engaged Koppler in a sting operation, ordering and receiving dozens of live tarantulas, authorities said.
Hugh Collins Contributor
AOL News
Special agents from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Postal Inspection Service arrested Sven Koppler when he traveled to Los Angeles to meet with an associate, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles said.
Koppler, 37, of Wachtberg, Germany, is accused of sending more than 500 live tarantulas through the mail. The spiders included 22 Mexican red-kneed tarantulas, a protected species whose formal name is Brachypelma smithi.
Authorities say Koppler was paid $300,000 for the arachnids.
If found guilty, he could serve up to 20 years in prison and pay a fine of as much $250,000.
"The entire Brachypelma genus is protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) because it is being threatened by international trade," the U.S. Attorney's Office said. "Specimens can only be legally traded if CITES permits first are obtained from the exporting country."
The arrest was the culmination of an investigation known as "Operation Spiderman."
Authorities began tracking Koppler in March, when they discovered about 300 live tarantulas during a routine search of an international package.
Agents then engaged Koppler in a sting operation, ordering and receiving dozens of live tarantulas, authorities said.
Hugh Collins Contributor
AOL News
Monday, October 18, 2010
Head teacher eats tarantula
One of Britain's leading head teachers stunned pupils - by eating a tarantula in front of a packed assembly.
Aydin Onac ate the baked spider to raise money for a new sports and drama centre at the highly rated St Olave's Grammar School in Orpington, Kent.
Some pupils enjoyed seeing his discomfort during the ordeal but others were upset, and at least one parent complained, reports the Daily Telegraph.
Mr Onac explained: "It wasn't until I opened the container and saw how big it was that I started to feel very nervous.
"When all the students came into the great hall and I realised what I had let myself in for, and that there was no way out, then I really started to panic."
He added: "It tasted quite salty, and a little bit like burnt chicken. It felt crunchy and very dry in the mouth, like eating those very dry cheese biscuits, so it was difficult to swallow.
"As I was eating it I was thinking about the quickest route to the cloakroom and whether I would still be alive by break-time."
The spider was sourced from Cambodia, where they are farmed and eaten by locals as a delicacy, and Mr Onac insisted its importation complied with British and EU guidelines.
But one parent, who did not wish to be named, said: "It's all very well raising money, but why does he have to behave as if he's taking part in I'm A Celebrity?"
Another complained: "I know that these spiders are farmed in Cambodia and considered a delicacy there, but we're not in Cambodia, we're in Orpington and in Orpington we don't do things like this."
http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Head_teacher_eats_tarantula
Aydin Onac ate the baked spider to raise money for a new sports and drama centre at the highly rated St Olave's Grammar School in Orpington, Kent.
Some pupils enjoyed seeing his discomfort during the ordeal but others were upset, and at least one parent complained, reports the Daily Telegraph.
Mr Onac explained: "It wasn't until I opened the container and saw how big it was that I started to feel very nervous.
"When all the students came into the great hall and I realised what I had let myself in for, and that there was no way out, then I really started to panic."
He added: "It tasted quite salty, and a little bit like burnt chicken. It felt crunchy and very dry in the mouth, like eating those very dry cheese biscuits, so it was difficult to swallow.
"As I was eating it I was thinking about the quickest route to the cloakroom and whether I would still be alive by break-time."
The spider was sourced from Cambodia, where they are farmed and eaten by locals as a delicacy, and Mr Onac insisted its importation complied with British and EU guidelines.
But one parent, who did not wish to be named, said: "It's all very well raising money, but why does he have to behave as if he's taking part in I'm A Celebrity?"
Another complained: "I know that these spiders are farmed in Cambodia and considered a delicacy there, but we're not in Cambodia, we're in Orpington and in Orpington we don't do things like this."
http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Head_teacher_eats_tarantula
Head teacher eats tarantula
One of Britain's leading head teachers stunned pupils - by eating a tarantula in front of a packed assembly.
Aydin Onac ate the baked spider to raise money for a new sports and drama centre at the highly rated St Olave's Grammar School in Orpington, Kent.
Some pupils enjoyed seeing his discomfort during the ordeal but others were upset, and at least one parent complained, reports the Daily Telegraph.
Mr Onac explained: "It wasn't until I opened the container and saw how big it was that I started to feel very nervous.
"When all the students came into the great hall and I realised what I had let myself in for, and that there was no way out, then I really started to panic."
He added: "It tasted quite salty, and a little bit like burnt chicken. It felt crunchy and very dry in the mouth, like eating those very dry cheese biscuits, so it was difficult to swallow.
"As I was eating it I was thinking about the quickest route to the cloakroom and whether I would still be alive by break-time."
The spider was sourced from Cambodia, where they are farmed and eaten by locals as a delicacy, and Mr Onac insisted its importation complied with British and EU guidelines.
But one parent, who did not wish to be named, said: "It's all very well raising money, but why does he have to behave as if he's taking part in I'm A Celebrity?"
Another complained: "I know that these spiders are farmed in Cambodia and considered a delicacy there, but we're not in Cambodia, we're in Orpington and in Orpington we don't do things like this."
http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Head_teacher_eats_tarantula
Aydin Onac ate the baked spider to raise money for a new sports and drama centre at the highly rated St Olave's Grammar School in Orpington, Kent.
Some pupils enjoyed seeing his discomfort during the ordeal but others were upset, and at least one parent complained, reports the Daily Telegraph.
Mr Onac explained: "It wasn't until I opened the container and saw how big it was that I started to feel very nervous.
"When all the students came into the great hall and I realised what I had let myself in for, and that there was no way out, then I really started to panic."
He added: "It tasted quite salty, and a little bit like burnt chicken. It felt crunchy and very dry in the mouth, like eating those very dry cheese biscuits, so it was difficult to swallow.
"As I was eating it I was thinking about the quickest route to the cloakroom and whether I would still be alive by break-time."
The spider was sourced from Cambodia, where they are farmed and eaten by locals as a delicacy, and Mr Onac insisted its importation complied with British and EU guidelines.
But one parent, who did not wish to be named, said: "It's all very well raising money, but why does he have to behave as if he's taking part in I'm A Celebrity?"
Another complained: "I know that these spiders are farmed in Cambodia and considered a delicacy there, but we're not in Cambodia, we're in Orpington and in Orpington we don't do things like this."
http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Head_teacher_eats_tarantula
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Tarantulas on the loose in Britain
By Andrew Hough, The Daily Telegraph, July 28, 2010
Britain could be facing a tarantula invasion after a number of the spiders were discovered in gardens in some parts of the country, wildlife experts have warned.
The RSPCA has issued an alert urging people to be on their guard amid fears a large batch of the spider has escaped in the north of the country.
The alert came after two separate incidents involving 10cm-wide Chilean Rose tarantulas in Bolton, Greater Manchester.
The rare arachnids, capable of blinding people by spitting hairs in their eyes, were both found in back gardens within two miles of each other.
Both spiders are the same age, breed and gender.
Experts said it suggested they could be part of a larger batch. The slow-moving large spiders from South America are a popular breed among collectors.
Lisa Broad, 20, found the first spider in her garden on the Oldhams Estate in Sharples.
She called the RSPCA, who re-homed the creature, named Fang, at Smithills Open Farm.
Three-and-a-half weeks later another woman from Lostock discovered another tarantula, which was sitting on her garden wall.
The woman, who did not want to be named, eventually trapped it under a plant pot on her path and alerted the RSPCA.
Derek Hampson, an inspector for the animal welfare charity, said: "We advised her to keep it under the plant pot until we arrived. They can quite happily go a week without food, so it was quite content.
"It got a bit aggressive when I picked it up. I wore safety goggles as these creatures can spit hairs which can blind you.
"It is possible there could be more out there, but unfortunately we havent got the resources to search for them."
He added: "It is up to members of the public to call us if they spot any."
Mr Hampson took the female, which is known to kill the male after mating, to Bugworld in Liverpool.
Jenny Dobson, the Bugworld curator, said: "It is rare for one of these to come in and we saw... there had been another with the same characteristics found outdoors.
"It is likely they came from the same place.
"It would be too much of a coincidence otherwise for two breakouts and they cant survive in the wild for long with the UK climate.
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