Tarantulas
Theraphosidae
Tarantulas are a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. More than a thousand species have been identified, within almost 200 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although many other members of the same infraorder (Mygalomorphae) are commonly referred to as "tarantulas" or "false tarantulas". Some of the more common species have become popular in the exotic pet trade. Many New World species kept as pets have setae known as urticating hairs that can cause irritation to the skin, and in extreme cases, cause damage to the eyes.
17 branches of this family, most-observed first
Theraphosine Tarantulas
subfamilyTheraphosinae
Pinktoe Tarantulas and Allies
subfamilyAviculariinae
Southern Baboon Spiders
subfamilyHarpactirinae
Asia-Pacific Tarantulas
subfamilySelenocosmiinae
Psalmopoeine Tarantulas
subfamilyPsalmopoeinae
Ischnocoline Tarantulas
subfamilyIschnocolinae
Southeast Asian Tarantulas
subfamilyOrnithoctoninae
Eumenophorine Baboon Spiders
subfamilyEumenophorinae
Poecilotheriinae
subfamilyPoecilotheriinae
Schismatotheline Tarantulas
subfamilySchismatothelinae
Indian Large Burrowing Spiders
subfamilyThrigmopoeinae
Western Baboon Spiders
subfamilyStromatopelminae
Thalerommata
genusThalerommata
Selenogyrine Tarantulas
subfamilySelenogyrinae
Acanthopelmine Tarantulas
subfamilyAcanthopelminae
Cyrtogrammomma
genusCyrtogrammomma
Psalistops
genusPsalistops
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Theraphosidae in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 47424.