Elsewhere, species have been found that variously display cobalt blue (Cyriopagopus lividus), black with white stripes (Aphonopelma seemanni), yellow leg markings (Eupalaestrus campestratus), metallic blue legs with vibrant orange abdomen and green prosoma (Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens).

Their natural habitats include savanna, grassland such as in the pampas, rainforest, desert, scrubland, mountains, and cloud forest.

[10] The term tarantula was subsequently applied to almost any large, unfamiliar species of ground-dwelling spider, in particular to the Mygalomorphae and especially the New World Theraphosidae.

This can be traced back to Carl Ludwig Koch in 1850,[11] who in describing his new genus Eurypelma wrote, "Die Sammetbürste der Fussohlen sehr breit" (lit.

Other species occur variously throughout Africa, much of Asia (including the Ryukyu Islands in southern Japan), and all of Australia.

Tarantulas mainly eat large insects and other arthropods such as centipedes, millipedes, and other spiders, using ambush as their primary method of prey capture.

Armed with their massive, powerful chelicerae tipped with long, chitinous fangs, tarantulas are well-adapted to killing other large arthropods.

The fangs are hollow extensions of the chelicerae that inject venom into prey or animals that the tarantula bites in defense, and they are also used to masticate.

In most species of tarantulas, the pedipalpi contain sharp, jagged plates used to cut and crush food often called the coxae or maxillae.

Male spiders spin a silken platform (sperm web) on the ground onto which they release semen from glands in their opisthosoma.

Each leg has seven segments, which from the prosoma out are: coxa, trochanter, femur, patella, tibia, tarsus and pretarsus, and claw.

Also on the end of each leg, surrounding the claws, is a group of bristles, called the scopula, which help the tarantula to grip better when climbing surfaces such as glass.

A tarantula perceives its surroundings primarily via sensory organs called setae (bristles or spines, sometimes referred to as hairs).

Although a tarantula has eight eyes like most spiders, touch is its keenest sense, and in hunting, it primarily depends on vibrations given off by the movements of its prey.

A tarantula's setae are very sensitive organs and are used to sense chemical signatures, vibrations, wind direction, and possibly even sound.

It pumps hemolymph to all parts of the body through open passages often referred to as sinuses, and not through a circular system of blood vessels.

The wasp must deliver a sting to the underside of the spider's cephalothorax, exploiting the thin membrane between the basal leg segments.

The wasp egg hatches into a larva and feeds on the spider's inessential parts, and as it approaches pupation, it consumes the remainder.

Tarantulas also use these bristles for other purposes, such as to mark territory or to line their shelters (the latter such practice may discourage flies from feeding on the spiderlings).

Because other proteins are included when a toxin is injected, some individuals may suffer severe symptoms due to an allergic reaction rather than to the venom.

[citation needed] Additionally, the large fangs of a tarantula can inflict painful puncture wounds, which can lead to secondary bacterial infections if not properly treated.

Before biting, a tarantula may signal its intention to attack by rearing up into a "threat posture", which may involve raising its prosoma and lifting its front legs into the air, spreading and extending its fangs, and (in certain species) making a loud hissing by stridulating.

If that response fails to deter the attacker, the tarantulas of the Americas may next turn away and flick urticating hairs toward the pursuing predator.

Males tend to be smaller (especially their abdomens, which can appear quite narrow) and may be dull in color when compared to their female counterparts, as in the species Haplopelma lividum.

Few live long enough for a postultimate molt, which is unlikely in natural habitats because they are vulnerable to predation, but has happened in captivity, though rarely.

Upon reaching adulthood, males typically have an 18-month period left to live so immediately go in search of a female mate.

Accordingly, in 1869, Tamerlan Thorell used the family name "Theraphosoidae" (modern Theraphosidae) for the mygalomorph spiders known to him, rather than "Mygalidae" (as used, for example, by John Blackwall).

Eumenophorinae Thrigmopoeinae Selenocosmiinae Poecilotheriinae Ornithoctoninae Stromatopelminae Harpactirinae Ischnocolinae (Trichopelma laselva) Aviculariinae Schismatothelinae Psalmopoeinae Theraphosinae All the species that possess urticating hairs and have been seen to use them in bombardment behavior are placed in the "bombardier clade", although not all species in the included subfamilies possess such hairs (all Schismatothelinae lack them as do most Psalmopoeinae genera).

It is not clear whether the possession of urticating hairs was an ancestral trait of the clade, and has been lost in some species, or whether it represents multiple gains.

[citation needed] One species assigned to the Theraphosidae is Protertheraphosa spinipes, found in Burmese amber, which is dated to the mid and late Cretaceous.