California has some of the highest diversity of spiders in the world, yet climate change and habitat encroachment are killing them.
It's tarantula season in the golden hills of the Bay Area: that period every fall when black, hairy males of the species Aphonopelma iodius emerge from their underground burrows in search of a receptive female — a first and final act of carnal exploration before they die. On a recent weekday evening, a group of Sierra Club members met before sunset at Mount Diablo State Park in Walnut Creek in hopes of witnessing a few of these desperate, single-minded, eight-legged prowlers.
They not only keep insect populations in check, but they provide sustenance for animals such as birds and mammals. And, he said, they're really cool. Some spiders, he said, form aggregations and cooperate in brood care — in which adult spiders care for other spiders' offspring. Others appear to participate in lekking behavior, in which two or more males will perform for a female — duking it out through courtship displays — to gain her favor.
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Spiders, spiders everywhere? Tarantula mating season starts early amid threats to arachnidsIt's tarantula season in the golden hills of the Bay Area: that period every fall when black, hairy males of the species Aphonopelma iodius emerge from their underground burrows in search of a receptive female—a first and final act of carnal exploration before they die.
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