Chaetopelma olivaceum: A species with a potentially unique behaviour

[drrjn]

Hey folks. I got 4 C. olivaceum spiderlings a few weeks ago. With these being very small spiderlings, I check on them every other day. The other day, I could not find one of them, I lifted a piece of bark and there it was on its back. I thought it was starting to molt, so I didn't even place the back bark back on top to not risk, should the bark touch it. A few minutes later I came back and it was gone. I had in the past Tarantulas abort a molt and do it later - so I didn't think much of it. However, today browsing the internet, I came across a video of a wild C. olivaceum in Cyprus clearly turning on its back and pretending to be dead, only to carry on later on. I wonder if this is a behaviour others have seen in this species or in other Tarantulas species. The possibility that this species displays such a behaviour is tantalizing [1] and may make this species unique among Tarantula species for it, or for the first observation of such a behaviour. I'd love to hear from others with long term experience with this species if they've seen such a behaviour - or such a behaviour was observed in other Tarantula species. I can imagine this being a trait selected in evolution by smaller species and if it is a true behaviour, it certainly adds to the range of cognitive reactions in Tarantulas. Here is a link to the video:

[1] There's a good name for a tarantula channel: Tantalizing Tarantulas.

 

[Mustafa67]

Hey folks. I got 4 C. olivaceum spiderlings a few weeks ago. With these being very small spiderlings, I check on them every other day. The other day, I could not find one of them, I lifted a piece of bark and there it was on its back. I thought it was starting to molt, so I didn't even place the back bark back on top to not risk, should the bark touch it. A few minutes later I came back and it was gone. I had in the past Tarantulas abort a molt and do it later - so I didn't think much of it. However, today browsing the internet, I came across a video of a wild C. olivaceum in Cyprus clearly turning on its back and pretending to be dead, only to carry on later on. I wonder if this is a behaviour others have seen in this species or in other Tarantulas species. The possibility that this species displays such a behaviour is tantalizing [1]. Here is a link to the video:

[1] There's a good name for a tarantula channel: Tantalizing Tarantulas.

That’s really facinating, thanks for showing the vid gotta get one of these

I haven’t seen this behaviour in any of my Ts. You can find my list on my profile.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Weird I had similar behavior with an ld. Although it only did it once, looks like this one you saw keeps on doing it !!

Molting stopped? Delayed ..

I don’t see this often , pretty rare for me. Although it might happen when I’m not awake watching them. She Proceeded to lay on back , I came back 3 hours later to check the progress and it stopped . Picture Flash was off while she was on her back . Molting stopped & go later? I assume it will...

arachnoboards.com

 

[Mustafa67]

Weird I had similar behavior with an ld. Although it only did it once, looks like this one you saw keeps on doing it !!

Molting stopped? Delayed ..

I don’t see this often , pretty rare for me. Although it might happen when I’m not awake watching them. She Proceeded to lay on back , I came back 3 hours later to check the progress and it stopped . Picture Flash was off while she was on her back . Molting stopped & go later? I assume it will...

arachnoboards.com

What T is that? It looks stunning

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

What T is that? It looks stunning

Lasiodora difficilis.

 

[Brewser]

This type of behavior has always puzzled me.
Predator chasing Prey... Prey plays dead... Predator loses interest?
It seems like this strategy would only work if the Antagonist wasn't looking for food.
Very interesting none the less.
P.S. I also am keeping C. olivaceum Spiderling, haven't noticed this behavior thus far.

 

[Tarantuland]

Interesting, I’ve had dozens of these and never noticed. I’ll keep my eyes out

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

I would be more convinced the tarantula in the video was displaying a “play dead” defensive behavior if it rolled back over and walked away on its own without being flipped back over by the guy with a stick. Also, it appears the tarantula fell over when it walked off of the carboard and didn’t have the strength to right itself. Something doesn’t look right, in general, about the tarantula in the video, almost like it doesn’t have full strength when it moves about.

In the combfooted and orbweaver spiders that drop from their webs to the ground and play dead, they “come back to life” on their own when a disturbance passes. You don’t see anything similar that in the video.