''Avicularia purpurea'', also called the Ecuadorian purple tarantula or Ecuador purple pinktoe, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...

belonging to the family

Theraphosidae Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. , 1,100 species have been identified, with 166 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although ...

(tarantulas).

Distribution

These spiders are mainly present in

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

in the Amazon Region.

Habitat

This species can be found in very different habitats, but frequently it is present in agricultural areas, especially in the field of grazing cattle. Sometimes it can be found in holes of walls of buildings or in the spaces below the roofs.

Description

''Avicularia purpurea'' can reach a length of about , ''Avicularia''. In daylight this spider discloses a quite intense purple-blue iridescence on the dorsal surface of the cephalothorax and on legs, palps and chelicerae. The long setae covering the legs and palps are dark red-brown. The tarsal and metatarsal scopulae are very dark brown. The tarsal tufts are pale cream-pink in colour. The abdomen is velvet-black and covered with stinging hairs.The tarantula's burrow
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Behavior

''Avicularia purpurea'' is primarily an arboreal spider. This climbing species builds its nests primarily in hollows in the trees, sometimes in the vicinity of epiphytic plants. These spiders eat mostly crickets, cockroaches, meal worms, waxworms and darkling beetles, but they also can catch small rodents. During mating the females become very aggressive towards the males. A few months after mating the female lays up to 120 eggs in a cocoon. Six to eight weeks later between 50 and 120 nymphs hatch.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q139270 Endemic fauna of Ecuador Theraphosidae Spiders of South America Spiders described in 1990