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How a Tarantula Builds a Sperm Web (A. geniculata)

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• published: 22 Jul 2015
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Don't forget to rate! Shortly after the maturing moult, the male tarantula spins a sperm web in preparation for his sexual career. The sperm web is a lean-to-style silken tent, open at the ends. They come in either one of two styles. Some are built with only the two ends open. Others are built with a third opening at the center on top. If a top opening is present, the male will spin an extra little patch of special silk from his epiandrous glands on the inside and adjacent to the top opening's edge. If no top opening is present, he will spin this extra patch of silk inside and adjacent to the edge of one of the end openings. Under the sperm web and upside down, he will then deposit a droplet of semen, containing his sperm, on the underside of the little patch of special silk. After climbing back up on top of the web, he will reach with his pedipalps, first one and then the other, either through the top opening (if it is present), or over and around the end (if the top opening is not present) to load his bulbs with sperm. This process is known as 'sperm induction'. Before and during sperm induction he will frequently mouth or moisten his emboli to supply lubrication and reduce surface tension to allow the sperm to flow into the bulbs more conveniently. The sperm that he charges his bulbs with are not active. Shortly after the sperm are produced inside his testes, their flagella wrap around their cell bodies. Thereafter they were encapsulated in a layer of protein and remain dormant through the remainder of their lives until they are called upon to fertilize a female's eggs. Source: Stanley A. Schultz, Marguerite J. Schultz. The Tarantula Keeper's Guide. Check out my Instagram account for more tarantula photographs and videos: http://instagram.com/daniel_vamu