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Spider Tales 5: Tarantula and tarantella

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Tarantula. A famous word for a famous animal. Everyone knows what a tarantula is: it's a massive, impressive, hairy spider. This Tliltocatl albopilosum is typically what one has in mind when thinking "tarantula". Nowadays, the spiders colloquially known as "tarantulas" are species in the family Theraphosidae, which is the most diverse (with over 1100 described species ) and the most famous family of the infra-order Mygalomorphae . The smallest Theraphosidae species are about 10 mm long, which is not small by spider standards, and most of them are large to very large. The largest representatives of this family, species in the genus Theraphosa , are the largest and heaviest spiders on Earth, which can reach up to 12 cm in body length and 170g in body mass. Besides their often impressive size, many Theraphosidae sport beautiful colours and patterns, and many New World taxa, such as species in the genera Tliltocatl , Brachypelma , Aphonopelma and Grammostola , are
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Arachnolingo 2, part III: Medically significant, venomous, dangerous: Why should we care?

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This is part 3 of an article that was so long it became a trilogy. You can click here for part one , about what "venomous" really means, and here for part two , about the term "medically significant", and how it differs from "venomous" and "dangerous". "Venomous" and "poisonous" don't mean what most people think they mean . What most people actually mean when they use these words generally is " medically significant ". Does it matter that much, though? Is it that important to use "medically significant" instead? If that's what everyone understands when we say "venomous" or "poisonous", why not simply use them that way in everyday conversations, and keep the fancy talk for expert discussions only? That would be a fair and valid point, if these words were not purposefully used in the wrong way by people who know exactly what they are doing, to scare and mislead their readers
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Arachnolingo 2, part II: Medically significant, dangerous, deadly

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This is part 2 of an article that was so long it became a trilogy. You can click here for part one , which explains what "venomous" really means, and here for part thre e, about why the distinction matters.   "-Is this spider venomous? -It's not medically significant." Unlike "venomous" or "venom", which zoologists try to define based on the  biology and evolution of these substances in the natural world, terms describing the relationship of animals with us, humans, such as "dangerous" or "deadly", are colloquial, so their definitions are not as strict and unified. One could argue, for instance, that any species which has ever killed at least one human being should be deemed "deadly", or that anything that represents any risk, even purely theoretical, to human life or health, could be classified as "dangerous". However, calling "deadly" animals whose bite is fatal in only about 1 in
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Arachnolingo 2: Venomous, medically significant, dangerous. Part I: What does "venomous" mean?

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This is part 1 of an article that was so long it became a trilogy. You can click here for part two , about what "medically significant" means and how it differs from "venomous" and "dangerous", and here for part three , which explains why it's important to understand the difference.   "-Is this spider venomous? -It's not medically significant." When you just want to know if you're in any danger around an animal you just found in or near your home, this answer can easily seem needlessly complicated, and even frustrating. It's tempting to assume that the person saying "medically significant" just wants to sound clever by using big words when they could just use simpler terms such as "venomous" or "dangerous". However, these words are not interchangeable, and it's important to avoid mixing them up. Here's why. Almost all spiders, including this trapdoor spider ( Nemesia sp.) are venomous . Howev
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