Spiderlings experience first molt

We often get excited for the anticipation of new babies, but when there are more than 300 – fear sets in! That is not the case for the Butterfly Pavilion Tarantula Breeding Team. They are excited for the more than 300 spiderlings that have emerged out of Diana’s eggsack.

In March of this year, the Butterfly Pavilion created a breeding program for the purpose of research, educational opportunities for zookeepers, staff and visitors as well as the conservation of threatened animals. After a successful breeding attempt with Diana and Cassanova (a breeding pair), an egg sack was formed soon after.

The egg sac was incubated in a hammock suspended in tupperware. As of June 27, 2010, there were 27 first instar spiderlings, 280 post embryo eggs with legs, and three unhatched eggs. Of the post embryos, 150 were pulled aside and incubated in an identical incubation setup for a growth study, which will measure how much the spiderlings eat, their molt rate and growth rate.

Both groups of embryo’s have molted into first instar spiderlings. Meaning, they are now biologically “spiders” and not “spider embryos”.

The breeding program is now part of the Butterfly Pavilion’s growth study of the Chilean Rose Hair tarantula. There are no published growth studies of the Grammostola roseas.  The Butterfly Pavilion is very excited for the study and should have a report by fall.

To learn more about the Butterfly Pavilion’s Tarantula babies and how they came about check it out here.

Posted by

Megan Sullivan

Social Media Intern