This has been tarantula week in Dallas. I don’t get too many tarantula calls as a rule; tarantulas are nocturnal homebodies, rarely venturing more than a foot from their burrow…except during mating season. For a short time in the spring (and to some extent in the fall), usually after a rain, male Texas brown tarantulas (Aphonopelma hentzi complex) leave their burrows and hidey-holes in search of–what else?–romance. In some parts of the state dozens of spiders may be seen at once, especially at night along lonely west Texas… Read More →