Mexican Blood Leg Tarantula

Aphonopelma bicolouratum

Reptiles Alive Name: “Chewbacca”

Hissstory: Chewie was one of 8 tarantulas, one scorpion, and one savannah monitor lizard that were rescued from a house fire by Fairfax County Animal Control in April of 2006.  Due to zoning laws, the owner was not allowed to have his animals returned to him, so we were given custody of all of the rescued animals.

RA Diet: Chewie’s favorite food are crickets.

Natural Diet: Tarantulas will eat insects, birds, lizards, and even small mammals.

Range: Mexican blood leg tarantulas are native to Mexico and South Texas.

Habitat: Blood leg tarantulas are found in deserts where they spend most of their time hiding in burrows.

Size: Blood legs are a relatively small tarantula, growing to about 3 1/2 to 5 inches

Lifespan: Female tarantulas can live over 30 years – males do not live nearly as long.

Reproduction: Tarantulas construct a golf ball sized egg sac out of silk. The female tarantula will care for her eggs by turning the egg sac on a regular basis. One egg sac may contain over two thousand eggs.

Conservation: Tarantulas form a vital part of the desert’s food web.   They control insect populations by eating them, and then, tarantulas are eaten by other animals such as lizards, birds, and mammals.

Cool Facts: Tarantulas rarely harm humans. They prefer to use the itchy hairs on their abdomen to irritate any animal that bothers them. The venom from tarantulas found in North America is not any more dangerous to people than bee venom.  The best thing to do whenever you see an animal is to just leave it alone.

Madagascar Hissing Cockroach

Gromphadorhina portentosa

Reptiles Alive Name: Too many to name

Hissstory: Our first few hissing roaches were donated to us by Long Branch Nature Center in Arlington, VA.  Within a few months, we had lots, lots more.

RA Diet: Chopped leafy greens, vegetables, monkey chow, dogfood, fruit, leftovers. (Hey, they are roaches they like leftovers!)

Natural Diet: Roaches are scavengers – they will eat dead and decaying plants and animals laying on the forest floor.

Range: Madagascar

Habitat: Hissing roaches live in the tropical rain forests of Madagascar.

Size: Hissing roaches are a relatively a large roach, growing to about 3 inches.

Lifespan: Hissing roaches live for about two years.

Reproduction: Male hissing roaches have two large bumps on the tops of their heads. They use them to battle for females just like goats do. After mating, females will keep the eggs inside her body until they hatch. Gestation is 60-70 days. Females have about 30 young

Conservation: Cockroaches are one of the most important species on our planet!  As decomposers, they create soil by eating decaying plants and animals.  Without decomposers like cockroaches, plants and trees could not grow.  Without plants and trees, animals and humans could not survive.  So, you might not want to live with, hug, or kiss a cockroach, but cockroaches are a super important animal.

Cool Facts: Hissing roaches produce a hissing noise by pushing air through holes in their abdomen. There are at least five different hisses.  Different hisses are used in courtship, to defend territory, and warn of danger.

Haitian Roach or Death’s Head Roach

Reptiles Alive Name: We have too many to name!

Hissstory: Our colony came from a few roaches given to us by a zoo.   They multiplied quickly!

Reptiles Alive Diet: Greens, monkey food, vegetables, dog food, fruit, leftovers. (Hey, they are roaches they like leftovers!)

Natural Diet: Just about ANYTHING! Roaches are scavengers living off of dead and decaying plants and animals. Hungry?

Range: Florida, the Caribbean,  and Central America

Habitat: Roaches can survive pretty much anywhere within their range.

Size: Haitian  roaches are relatively large as roaches go – they can grow to about 3 inches.

Lifespan: Haitian roaches can live for about two years.

Reproduction: Roaches breed constantly. Females will lay an egg sac which looks like stacks of CD’s.   She will then suck them back up into her body in order to incubate them.  Totally weird!

Conservation: Roaches play an important role in the natural world.  As scavengers, they work as a kind of “clean up crew.”  They are also an extremely important food source for tons of other animals, including birds, frogs, and even baby crocodiles!

Cool Facts: Roaches are sometimes used by engineers  building robots.  The engineers study how the roaches move and try to build robots and computers that can imitate the roaches’ behavior.

Haitian Brown Tarantula

Phormictopus cancerides

Show Name: ”Charlotte”

Hissstory: Charlotte was transferred to us from another wildlife education organization in 2004.

Zoo Diet: Charlotte eats 1 or 2 crickets every couple of days.

Natural Diet: Tarantulas will eat insects, birds, lizards, and even small mammals.

Touchable: No.

Range: Haitian brown tarantulas naturally occur in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and other parts of the Caribbean .

Habitat: Haitian brown tarantulas enjoy hiding under rocks, in burrows,  and under debris.

Size: Haitian brown tarantulas are big spiders – they sometimes grow 7 to 9 inches in diameter!

Lifespan: Male tarantulas may only live 18-24 months, but females can live much longer,  sometimes, over 20 years.

Reproduction: Tarantulas construct a golf ball sized egg sac out of silk. The female tarantula will care for her eggs by turning the egg sac on a regular basis. One egg sac may contain over two thousand eggs.

Conservation: Tarantulas biggest threat is habitat destruction.  Human fear is also a danger to tarantulas, however, tarantulas rarely harm humans.  Like most wild animals, tarantulas actually fear humans, and will only bite as a defense.  Most species of tarantulas have venom that is no worse than bee venom, so, most tarantulas are harmless to people.

Cool Facts: Spider silk (the stuff spiders make into webs) is stronger than steel.  No, really, it’s true!  Scientists have been trying for years to manufacture enough spider silk to manufacture items such diverse items as clothing and cable to make bridges out of.    So far, no one has figured out how make enough spider silk to make anything other than a really expensive scarf.  But maybe someday you could be wearing spider clothes while driving over a spider bridge!

Superworms (aka Darkling Beetles)

Zophobas morio

Yummy, delicious Superworms!

Show Name: Too many to name!

Hissstory: We purchase our superworms from an insect “farm” that caters to zoos and other animal related organizations.

Zoo Diet: Our superworms dine on oatmeal, whole wheat bread, greens and other veggies.

Touchable in our shows? Yes

Natural Diet: Superworms will eat just about anything.

Range: Zophobas beetles are found in Tropical Central & South America.  (Beetles are found in every continent except Antarctica)

Habitat: They love to hide in rotting logs and leaves.

Size: Superworms can grow to 2 inches long and can be as thick as a pencil.

Lifespan: From egg to beetle, superworms have a total lifespan of about 1 year.

Reproduction: Female darkling beetles lay eggs, which hatch out into tiny, baby superworms. The superworms will molt many times as they grow.  After a few months of growing, they morph into a pupae form, (what I like to call the “alien stage”) and emerge as a black beetle called the darkling beetle.  Superworms will only morph into a pupae form if they are “stressed” such as lacking food and water. The larvae will turn into a pupae when food and water are scarce; a perfect time because pupae do not need to eat or drink. Then, the superworms emerge as beetles at a time when food and water are plentiful.

Conservation: As decomposers, superworms are extremely beneficial recyclers of organic material.   They are also a tasty treat for many animals and, even some humans!

Cool Facts: In many countries, superworms and mealworms are cooked and eaten by humans. They are healthy and a valuable source of protein. Taste a little like almonds. (No really, they are delicious.)

Posting by Caroline Seitz

I had heard stories of the black flies that live in the north, but I never believed that they could be that bad.  I was wrong.  I am trying unsuccessfully not to scratch as I write this.

Last week I went with my Dad and Kay to Mont Tremblant, a mountain resort area in Quebec, Canada.  It was a fantastic place, full of gorgeous rivers, lakes, and mountains.  We went fishing for trout, hiked on great trails, and ate LOTS of fantastic French food.

The area is full of lakes carved by glaciers that retreated long ago.  The lakes are full of frogs and fish.  I saw green frogs and heard their calls, along with the calls of gray tree frogs, bull frogs, and spring peepers.  I did not see any reptiles, but I was lucky to catch a speckled trout on our fishing expedition.  During our time on the boat, there were no insects to be seen (or felt).

Green Frog in Quebec, Canada

Speckled trout - Quebec

I was on the dock of a very nice restaraunt, petting a cat, when I had my first real taste of what black flies are capable of.  They were swarming all around my face and head.  I brushed them away and figured they were kind of like gnats – annoying, but basically harmless.

I went back inside the restaraunt to place my order for dinner (grilled venison, yum!), and noticed I was bleeding around my chest and neck.  The waitress who spoke mostly French, noticed, and began to explain what black flies can do to a person.  She said they liked to crawl under your clothes and hair where they bite throught your skin ans suck blood.  Their bites will cause bleeding, then later, the bites swell and become very itchy and in some people, very painful.

I excused myself from the dinner table, went to the restroom and shook all my clothes out.  I then noticed that I was bleeding from many, many bites on my face, neck, and back.  It was a bit gross.  After the bleeding stopped, I went back to the table and enjoyed a dinner that was magnifique.

A day later, all of the bites had turned into large red welts that itched like mad! I knew I had to avoid getting any more black fly bites.  I now had respect for them.  These were no gnats!

It turns out, black flies breed in clean, fast running creeks and rivers.  The larvae cannot tolerate pollution or still water.  The larvae and adult flies are a major source of food for trouts, birds, and many other insects and animals.  The adults typically come out around mid-May and stick around until the end of July, but the actual “black fly season” depends on location and weather conditions.

Black flies are a major problem for livestock.  Because black flies like to crawl inside nasal passages, cattle an other livestock are sometimes smothered by the swarming flies.  The flies can also spread disease and cause such stress to animals, that they die.

I had a great time in Canada – and I would love to go back.  But this time, I’ll remember to bring the bug spray!

“AHHHHHHHHH!  Gross, or EEEEEEK,” are probably the most common responses to our guest today.  Meet the roach.  Labeled as one of the most undesirable animals to be found in the kitchen, this insect sure has one bad rap.  Pest control companies have convinced everyone that roaches can make you sick.  While, I would not be thrilled to have an infestation in my kitchen, this is simply not true. “Although cockroaches carry disease organisms, they are not known to transmit it to humans.” Clay Kirby of the University of Main.pmo.umext.maine.edu/factsht/roach.htm

Heather our Keeper and George the Roach

I have even had a few keepers refuse to even touch the creepy crawlies.  Of course, the little guys with their cute little antennas eventually would wriggle into their hearts.  (Figuratively! Sheesh, you people are gross.)

There are over 4,000 species of roaches scientifically discovered.  There are probably just as many left undiscovered on the planet.  Less than one percent of all these species are known to dwell in human domiciles, the rest want nothing to do with us. http://blattodea-culture-group.org/content/cockroaches-amazing-diversity

Roaches are important decomposers in the ecosystem.  They are able to eat tougher things than worms and many other decomposers, turning dead plants into rich, dark soil.  Without the roaches, plants would have a tough time getting the nutrients they need from the soil.

Our own Malagasy Hissing Roaches are one of the most fun group of animals to watch.  They are more like little goats than bugs.  The males would constantly play king of the cardboard mountain, pushing rivals back with the shiny black “horns” on their exoskeleton.  Each night, a new battle would begin.  Hordes of roaches would crawl out from their hiding places in a fury of hissing and head-butting in attempt to dethrone the king. One tenacious little bugger would perpetually guard the food dish.  Only the tiny fingernail sized nymph could sneak under his radar unnoticed for a bite to eat. We ended up scattering their veggies all over the cage after that.

One night working late I heard a strange scuffling noise coming from the roach enclosure.  Looking in I noticed a large male wriggle his body around in a sort of dance.  For a minute I thought he had watched too many episodes of Seinfeld with Elaine dancing at a party.  Then I noticed a few females watching him with interest a few inches away.  Either he was making a huge fool of himself, or these guys get on the dance floor to woo a cute girl.

After the wooing, these roaches make wonderful mothers.  Hissing roaches lay a perfect stack of long oval, bright yellow eggs like a line of jewel cases for cds sitting all in a row.  She then sucks the eggs back into her abdomen for safe keeping.  Some roaches even care for their soft little nymphs until they molt a few times and their shells harden.  Good girl!

Find out more about the shy bug that cannot bite, hisses like a snake for defense, and tastes delicious!  (Don’t take my word for it, ask the lemurs.)