What animal preys on the rose hair Tarantula spider?
Any predator larger than the spider - reptiles, birds, small mammals, also parasitic wasps. And humans too - singe the hairs off the abdomen and roast them over a fire - they taste like shrimp!
Reply:1) Predators: various nocturnal animals (large mammals, reptiles, other tarantulas), hunting wasps, parasitized by nematodes or roundworms.
2) Winged death: The mygalomorph has few natural predators except the Tarantula Hawk, a large wasp (Pepsis) that specialises in mygalomorph. Although some Pepsis wasps are huge (Pepsis atrata has a wingspan of nearly 10cm!), even smaller Pepsis wasps will capture mygalomorphs many times bigger than themselves. The mygalomorphs seldom put up a fight and passively await their fate as the wasp creeps up and stings them in their soft abdomen. The wasp may entice a spider out of its burrow by tapping at the entrance but does not hesitate to enter the spider's underground burrow. Often the mygalomorph is already gone, out of an emergency exit. Outside, the spider sits motionless while the wasp searches frantically for it. Apparently, the wasp homes in on the spider's pheromones, harder to detect in the open.
Tarantula talk: Some can make a hissing sound (stridulation) by rubbing body structures together: Brazilian Pink-haired Bird-Eating Spider (Lasiodora parahybana). So does the more ominous Whistling/Barking Spider (Selenocosmia crassipes) which reportedly eats chickens and even large dead fish and can kill large dogs. Found in Queensland rainforests, they grow to a monster palm size. Read more about them in Elanor Mahon's article in The Tarantula Burrow.
If the wasp succeeds in paralysing the tarantula, she may drag it to a burrow she has dug out or simply seal it in its own burrow. The wasp then lays its egg on it. The still-living spider remains paralysed for several months, providing fresh meat for the wasp larvae, which is careful to avoid the vital organs so the spider remains alive as long as possible! This wasp even tackles the Giant Tarantula, the largest spider.
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