Quick Take
- Tarantula fangs aren't what actually do the eating. Something far weirder handles that job.
- A tarantula's meal is already half-digested before it ever enters the spider's body.
- There's a critical step between capturing prey and consuming it that most people never consider.
- The spider digestive system breaks one of the most basic rules you assumed about how animals eat.
If you’ve ever witnessed a tarantula appear to consume a cricket or other prey, it may have left you wondering how it actually consumes the creature. In this latest video featuring Richard Stewart of The Tarantula Collective, he explains more about how tarantulas eat.
Tarantulas don’t chew their food like humans do, and they don’t simply use their fangs like giant straws. Like other spiders, tarantulas feed on liquid. After capturing prey such as crickets or roaches, they begin digesting it outside their bodies, breaking down the soft tissues into a nutrient-rich liquid they can ingest. The tarantula essentially has to turn its prey into a drinkable meal before it can consume it.
Learn how tarantula fangs, external digestion, feeding behavior, and the spider digestive system work in this fascinating look at one of nature’s stranger ways of eating.
Special thanks to The Tarantula Collective for the incredible video and expertise.
