The purseweb or atypical tarantula is a spider family consisting of 3 genera. In those genera, there are nearly 58 tarantulas who are ambush predators. Not all of them make webs, but those who do, feel the sensation of the victim through the vibration on the web or tube, and then drag the prey and devour.
Size: Female spiders of the Atypus genus are 0.27-0.82 in (0.6-2.0 cm) and males of the same genus are around 0.47 in (1.1 cm). Male spiders of Calommata genus are around 0.27 in (0.68 cm) and female spiders are 0.90-1.1 in (2.2-2.7 cm).
Color: Female spiders are red or dark colored and male spiders are dark or red colored.
Other Characteristic Features: Their spinnerets are long and the chelicerae are large.
Female spiders make an egg sac into which they lay eggs. The sac is usually hanged inside the burrow they live in.
Spiderlings emerge from the eggs in the summer that comes first after the eggs are laid. They stay with their mothers till the spring season. They leave afterward to live all by themselves.
Spiders of the Atypus genus make a silken tube that is partially (approx 7.8 in) buried in the ground. The rest of the tube (approx 3.4 in) lies on the ground horizontally and the spiders take retreat at the tube’s bottom. Spiders of Sphodros genus keep the tube on tree trunks. Spiders of Calommata do not make such webs or tubes.
They are not venomous, hence not dangerous, but their bite might cause allergic reactions in some.
| Other Names | Atypical tarantulas |
| Distribution | Atypus: Asia, North America, and Africa Calommata: Africa and Asia Sphodros : North America |
| Habitat | Forests and other vegetations |
| Diet | Insects and other spiders |
| Lifespan | Around 7 years |
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