Subject: Ugly spiders
Geographic location of the bug: Arizona
Date: 02/05/2019
Time: 02:13 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: Hello,
I’m NOT a fan of spiders in my home, & we’ve seen Huntsmen Spiders here about 6″ crawling on the ceiling @ night-freaked me out!! I do have a healthy fascination for the tarantulas because they don’t come into my home!lol
While cleaning up debris outdoors at our new home we discovered 3 of the UGLIEST spiders, & after closer examination, we realized we uncovered baby tarantulas that grow to be absolutely stunning!! We felt badly as it’s now the cold winter so I felt badly as many species of tarantulas are in a rapid decline due to habitat loss & the pet trade, & we were able to find them a new home, however, we discovered that people who have lived here their entire lives have NEVER seen spiderlings, so here they are!
Desert Blondie (Aphonopelma Chalcodes)
How you want your letter signed: Sheila
Dear Sheila,
Our first inclination was that your images picture Trapdoor Spiders, which are classified with Tarantulas in the infraorder Mygalomorphae, but upon thoroughly reading what you wrote, and then researching on BugGuide, we agree that these are immature Tarantulas. Thanks so much for sending in your images, and because, despite your dislike for Spiders, you took the trouble to relocate these immature Tarantulas, we are tagging this posting with the Bug Humanitarian Award.
Dear Daniel,
I LOVE Tarantulas, & unfortunately, sadly they’re in decline all over the world, much of it due to pet trade! They are truly peaceful creatures and a threat to no one!
Thanks so much for honoring me with that reward, I feel very humbled seeing that many others do the same, although most everyone that looked at the pics “felt the hair stand up all over”! lol
Keep up the good work as you definitely have people look at bugs differently & in a positive way than they might have previously!
Sincerely,
Sheila
Hi Sheila,
We are presuming you meant “pet trade” and not “pest trade” so we are making a correction.