Text by Sy Montgomery Photographs by Nic BIshop
(pg 7) Queen of the Jungle Sam Marshal is in the rainforest. He is on the ground. He is looking in a hole. Come out, he says. I want to see you! he says. There is a sign in the rainforest. It says
Watch out for Wasps Ants Bees Spiders Wild pigs Snakes
Sam Marshal is a spider scientist. (a-rack-nah-lowjist) He studies spiders. He likes big spiders.
Sam Marshall is studying tarantulas here.
(pg 8) French Guiana (guh-we-an-ah) Goliath Bird Eater
Goliath Bird Eaters A kind of tarantula. This tarantula is big as your face. Is heavy as five mice. comes out at night. lives in a hole.
Pedipalps are spider arms. The spider grabs the stick with her pedipalps. Sam says, She is pretty strong! Females are bigger than males. Females live longer than males.
(pg 9) Sam put pink tape on a tree next to the spider s hole. The tarantula does not go down her hole. She feels the people walking. Sam says, She s Queen of the Jungle!
(pg 11) Sam is not afraid of tarantulas. He says that they don t like to bite. They throw their hair. The hair itches. The hair makes you sneeze. they are beautiful animals. they don t attack people. they want to hide. people eat tarantulas!
Tarantulas are strange! They smell and taste with their feet. They live 30 years! They have a skeleton on the outside. The skeleton is called exoskeleton They have blue or They can eat their legs! or blood.
(pg 13) We have many questions about tarantulas. Sam wants to study tarantula life. Do they grow fast? Do they live alone? How do they find their homes (burrows)? How many are there? Do they need a lot of space?
(pg 16) Tarantulas are in many places. Tarantulas Wolf Spiders Some tarantulas live in trees. Some tarantulas live in holes. Some tarantulas live in people s houses.
Spiders are invertebrates And spiders! Most animals are invertebrates.
(pg.18) Spiders are arachnids (uh-racknids). They are not insects. Arachnids Eight legs Two body parts Use venom Insects Six legs Three body parts
More Tarantula facts. Don t spin webs A very old kind of spider Tarantulas 850 kinds Live in many places
(pg.22) Sam bumped a wasp nest and fell down a hill. Sam must be careful. Sam has many things to find spiders. Some big tweezers A big kitchen knife. Some plastic containers A hoe
How did Sam start studying tarantulas? Sam was 13 years old. He had many animals. His family went to see a friend. The friend had a tarantula. Sam s sister was scared. Sam thought the tarantula was fun. His brother thought the tarantula was not fun. Sam loved tarantulas. He got some tarantulas.
Then Sam got older. Sam went to college. But, Sam did not do well. Then he did a project about tarantulas. So He went to places tarantulas lived. He learned a lot and did much better in school. He loved studying tarantulas. Sam loved studying spiders.
(pg.29) Sam and his helpers went into the rainforest. They learned The tarantulas live in holes in the ground The holes are two inches long. They are under a stone, root, or branch They like to live together
(pg.30) Tarantula Burrows (home in the ground) Sam looked in a tarantula burrow. Sam said, She s not very happy with me. She won t come out. Sam wanted her to come out, but she didn t. Sam put a worm in front of the Burrow. But the tarantula took the worm and ran. Sam dug into the burrow and found another spider and a frog! He dug into the burrow and caught the tarantula. He studied her and let her go. Sam learns... Tarantula burrows are very clean They push trash out of the burrow. They put silk inside and outside the burrow. The silk helps the spider catch food.
(pg.38) Arachnids everywhere Spiders are all around you. There are thousands of spiders in many places. Studying spiders can be safe, but you should not pick-up a spider You can watch a spider catch prey, make a web, and grow bigger. Spiders eat bugs many people don t like. When can you find spiders? Spiders come out early in the morning Spiders come out at night