Scientific Name:  Aphonopelma sp.
Order:  Araneae
Family:  Theraphosidae
Diet:  Eats insects such as crickets, grasshoppers, and beetles that it tears into pieces.  It rolls the pieces into a ?food ball? then injects them with digestive fluids and consumes it.
Vegetation Association:   They live inside burrows that they dig in the soil.
Predators:  Tarantula Hawk Wasps.
Life Stages:   These spiders will molt, or shed their exoskeleton so that they can grow.  While young they will molt many times a year, but once they have reached adulthood they will only about once a year.
Notes:  This spider hunts at night.  Males live between 6 and 18 months while females depending on the species can live 20 to 30 years.  When the male is ready to mate he will vibrate his body and tap his front legs.  If the female is not interested or if the male stays around too long after mating he she may eat him.

Photo: Taken at Jewel of the Creek at Cave Creek on September 29, 2007. For more photos, click on camera icon.

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