Insects

Caribbean Giant Cockroach

(Giant Cave Cockroach)

These giant cave roaches have earned their name. These roaches have 6 long legs and are brown to white in color. Adults have two pairs of wings. They are sexually dimorphic with males being larger and having hair like appendages on their rear.

Habitat/Range:

They can be found in the West Indies, Panama, and northern South America.

Size:

Length: 3-4in.

These roaches are some of the largest in the world!

This species has not been evaluated for the IUCN Red List.

Chilean Rose Tarantula

These tarantulas have two appendages near the mouth called pedipalps. These have sharp plates for crushing their food and also help in capturing their prey. These spiders can be brown, black, or red in color. Males and females live for different lengths of time.

Habitat/Range:

Found in Chile, these tarantulas prefer a hot, dry habitat.

Size:

Length: 5in.

The hairs covering a tarantula’s body help with sensory input (such as temperature, smell and vibrations) as well as defense. When a tarantula feels threatened, it will flick hairs from its abdomen at the threat which can cause irritation and often results in the predator leaving the tarantula alone.
Tarantulas are a spider, but aren’t considered to be in the group of “true spiders.” Tarantulas and their close relatives, do not build webs like “true spiders.” They are able to produce silk that they may use to build a home in the trees or underground, but they can’t build complex webs. Their fangs are also positioned differently. “True spiders” have fangs that come together horizontally while tarantula fangs are more like a snakes in that they are pointed down.

This species has not been evaluated for the IUCN Red List. They may be threatened by habitat loss and the pet trade.

Conservation Action:

Some laws are in place to control the importation of these tarantulas, but little else is done.

Malaysian Black Scorpion

(Asiatic Forest Scorpion)

Their color is uniformly black with areas of reddish-yellow, yellow, reddish-black, and greenish-black. As with all scorpions, they have pincers and a stinger. They are bulky in size.