Plastic Caterpillar

A wonderful miniature for your science diorama!

Our Plastic Caterpillar

This engaging, realistic plastic caterpillar is made of hard durable plastic. It is 2 3/8 inches long including feelers. Our caterpillar resembles the larva stage of the luna moth. It makes a good replica in a shoe box diorama or for any school project. It is also an excellent party favor. Check out our other caterpillar toys and gifts.

About Caterpillars

A caterpillar is the larval form of a member of the order Lepidoptera, the insect order comprising butterflies and moths. Like other insects, the caterpillar consists of three body parts, the head thorax and abdomen. The thorax and abdoment are segmented. They have three pairs of true legs on the three thoracic segments, up to four pairs of prolegs on the middle segments of the abdomen, and often a single pair of prolegs on the last abdominal segment. There are ten abdominal segments. Caterpillars breathe through slits in their thorax and abodmen which are called spirales, and move along by flexing a series of approximately 4000 muscles. They also have remarkably good eyesight, since they have six small eyes on each side of their head. Of course, they are voracious plant eaters and are viewed as a pest to crop growers. Caterpillars have developed all kinds of defense mechanisms against predators. Some have spiny, stinging hair, others put off a noxious odor. In any case, caterpillars are amazing creatures, especially in the way they transform into butterflies or moths.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Large Plastic Brown Beetle

Believe me when I say beetles are EVERYWHERE!

Our Plastic Brown Beetle

This large and detailed plastic brown beetle is made of somewhat flexible plastic with good quality. This replica is robust and durable, ready for hours of play! While it does not float, this beetle replica makes for a great toy, gift, or centerpiece for a school project. It is 5 1/4 inches long with a realistic textured surface. An impressive figurine in size and detail! Check out our other beetle and insect toys and gifts.

About Beetles

The name Beetle refers to any of the 400,000 known species of insect belonging to the order Coleoptera (taken from the Greek words for "sheathed wing"). Virtually all beetles have two sets of wings, front and back. The rear set of wings are commonly used to fly, while the forward set is thick and hard, forming a protective shell or "sheath" over the flying wings and the rear of the beetle's body. Beetles represent nearly 40% of all insect species in the world, and new species are being discovered all the time. In fact, the order Coleoptera includes more species than any other order, and represents nearly a quarter of all life-forms on the planet. Scientists believe the total number of beetle species, discovered and undiscovered, to be between 1 and 100 million species. Beetles are widely diverse in size, weight, and coloration, and exist in every habitat on Earth except marine and polar.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Large Plastic Blue Beetle

With so many different species, there's a beetle to go with any outfit!

Our Large Plastic Blue Beetle

This large and detailed plastic blue beetle is made of somewhat flexible plastic with good quality. This replica is robust and durable, ready for hours of play! While it does not float, this beetle replica makes for a great toy, gift, or centerpiece for a school project. It is 5 1/4 inches long with a realistic textured surface. An impressive figurine in size and detail! Check out our other beetle and insect toys and gifts.

About Beetles

The name Beetle refers to any of the 400,000 known species of insect belonging to the order Coleoptera (taken from the Greek words for "sheathed wing"). Virtually all beetles have two sets of wings, front and back. The rear set of wings are commonly used to fly, while the forward set is thick and hard, forming a protective shell or "sheath" over the flying wings and the rear of the beetle's body. Beetles represent nearly 40% of all insect species in the world, and new species are being discovered all the time. In fact, the order Coleoptera includes more species than any other order, and represents nearly a quarter of all life-forms on the planet. Scientists believe the total number of beetle species, discovered and undiscovered, to be between 1 and 100 million species. Beetles are widely diverse in size, weight, and coloration, and exist in every habitat on Earth except marine and polar.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Large Plastic Red Beetle

Sometimes, what you need is just a BIG BRIGHT BUG!!

Our Plastic Red Beetle

This large and detailed plastic red beetle is made of somewhat flexible plastic with good quality. This replica is robust and durable, ready for hours of play! While it does not float, this beetle replica makes for a great toy, gift, or centerpiece for a school project. It is 5 1/4 inches long with a realistic textured surface. An impressive figurine in size and detail! Check out our other beetle and insect toys and gifts.

About Beetles

The name Beetle refers to any of the 400,000 known species of insect belonging to the order Coleoptera (taken from the Greek words for "sheathed wing"). Virtually all beetles have two sets of wings, front and back. The rear set of wings are commonly used to fly, while the forward set is thick and hard, forming a protective shell or "sheath" over the flying wings and the rear of the beetle's body. Beetles represent nearly 40% of all insect species in the world, and new species are being discovered all the time. In fact, the order Coleoptera includes more species than any other order, and represents nearly a quarter of all life-forms on the planet. Scientists believe the total number of beetle species, discovered and undiscovered, to be between 1 and 100 million species. Beetles are widely diverse in size, weight, and coloration, and exist in every habitat on Earth except marine and polar.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Plastic Viceroy Butterfly

A unique and detailed replica!

Our Plastic Viceroy Butterfly

This large and detailed plastic viceroy butterfly is made of somewhat flexible plastic with good quality. This replica is robust and durable, ready for hours of play! While it does not float, this butterfly replica makes for a great toy, gift, or centerpiece for a school project. It is 4 3/4 inches long with a realistic textured surface. An impressive figurine in size and detail! Check out our other butterfly and insect toys and gifts.

About Viceroy Butterflies

The viceroy butterfly (Limenitis archippus) is a butterfly common to the eastern edges of the North American Cascade mountain range. Thoughout its habitat, the viceroy mimics tha monarch butterfly through common orange and black wing patterns. Both species are distasteful to potential predators, which come to avoid the similar wing-patterns of both species. This phenomenon is called Mullerian mimicry.

Butterflies are from the order Lepidoptera. They represent the adult stage of the insect with the caterpillar being the larval stage. This represents an amazing metamorphisis in nature. Some species can fly long distances and are important in the pollination of many plants. It has been suggested that butterflies are bitter in taste so birds tend to leave them alone. Without many predators, some butterflies can overpopulate an area and be a lovely pest to agriculture.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Large Plastic Rhinoceros Beetle

Really? Sold from VENDING MACHINES!?!

Our Plastic Rhinoceros Beetle

This large and detailed plastic rhinoceros beetle is made of somewhat flexible plastic with good quality. This replica is robust and durable, ready for hours of play! While it does not float, this beetle replica makes for a great toy, gift, or centerpiece for a school project. It is 4 3/4 inches long with a realistic textured surface. An impressive figurine in size and detail! Check out our other beetle and insect toys and gifts.

About Japanese Rhinoceros Beetles

The Japanese rhinoceros beetle (Allomyrina dichotoma) is a common insect, and integral part of popular culture, in Japan, China, Taiwan, and Korea. The Japanese name for the species is kabutomushi, which means literally "helmet-bug".

This beetle appears as the center of many television, cinematic, anime, and advertising works in Japan, in much the same way that tigers and geckos do in the United States. Rhino beetles are also popular in games of chance, which usually pit two male beetles in a contest of strength. They are also popular pets, and are even sold from vending machines. Japanese rhino beetles live only four months as a beetle.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Large Plastic Carpenter Ant

Perfect for your science project or tabletop wargame!

Our Plastic Ant

This large and detailed plastic carpenter ant is made of somewhat flexible plastic with good quality. This replica is robust and durable, ready for hours of play! While it does not float, this ant replica makes for a great toy, gift, or centerpiece for a school project. It is 5 inches long with a realistic textured surface. An impressive figurine in size and detail! Check out our other ant and insect toys and gifts.

About Carpenter Ants

Carpenter ants are of the genus Camponotus and are known as carpenter ants because they live in colonies in galleries they excavate in wood. Carpenter ants do not eat the wood they remove during their nest-building activities, but deposit it outside entrances to the colony in small piles. The wood is used solely as a nesting site. The galleries of carpenter ants are kept smooth and clean and make easily used runways. Carpenter ants are active indoors during many months of the year, usually during the spring and summer. When ants are active in the house during late winter/early spring, the nest is probably within the house. When carpenter ants are first seen in the spring and summer (May/June), then the nest is likely outdoors and the ants are simply coming in for food. The natural food of the ants consists of honeydew from aphids, other insects, and plant juices, but they will readily forage for water and food scraps within the house.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Cockroach 3D Puzzle

Unlike the real thing, these ARE destructible!

Our Plastic 3D Cockroach Puzzle

The details on this 3-D puzzle animal toy add another dimension, so you could say it is 4-D (3-D + details)! It is certainly one of the more detailed we have seen, making it an interesting replica as well as a fun toy for adults and children above the age of 3. This delightful insect model comes assembled, and its body is 3 1/2 inches long. The pieces are cleverly fitted, flexible, and not too difficult to assemble. When complete, this highly-detailed insect stands nicely on its own for display on your shelf, TV, computer monitor, etc. Check out our other 3-D Puzzle Animals, as well as our other insect toys.

About Cockroaches

A cockroach is a general term for a number of species from the order Blattodea. The American species is omnivorous and can be found most anywhere in garbage or around rotting food in the kitchen. Cockroaches are mainly nocturnal and will run away when exposed to light. They are incredibly resilient insects with some species capable of remaining active for a month without food, or being able to survive on limited resources like the glue from the back of postage stamps. Some cockroaches can go without air for 45 minutes and can live without a head for a long time. The lifespan of a cockroach is about a year (assuming it has its head).

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Large Plastic Grasshopper

You don't need a "plague" of hoppers this size...about a dozen would do it!

Our Large Plastic Grasshopper

This large and detailed plastic grasshopper is made of somewhat flexible plastic with good quality. This replica is robust and durable, ready for hours of play! While it does not float, this grasshopper replica makes for a great toy, gift, or centerpiece for a school project. It is 7 inches long with a realistic textured surface. An impressive figurine in size and detail! Check out our other grasshopper and insect toys and gifts.

About Grasshoppers

Grasshoppers are herbivorous insects of the suborder Caelifera in the order Orthoptera. There are over 11,000 different species of grasshoppers and many more undistinguished varieties living in rainforests throughout the world. Grasshoppers make sound by rubbing their long hindlegs against their abdomen or by snapping their wings during flight. Grasshoppers are fun to catch and are a source of protein to many people in the world. Grasshoppers are low on the food chain and fall prey to other insects and birds. They are often used as bait for fishing.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Large Plastic Praying Mantis

We've got this fantastic replica back in stock!

Our Plastic Praying Mantis

This large and detailed plastic praying mantis is made of somewhat flexible plastic with good quality. This replica is robust and durable, ready for hours of play! While it does not float, this praying mantis replica makes for a great toy, gift, or centerpiece for a school project. It is 6 1/2 inches long with a realistic textured surface. An impressive figurine in size and detail! Check out our other miscellaneous bugs and insect toys and gifts.

About Praying Mantises

The praying mantis is a general term describing any of 2300 species of mantises in the order Mantodea. The word mantis comes from the Greek meaning "prophet." The insect derives its name because it looks like it is kneeling in prayer. The word "praying" is often confused for the word "preying". In this regard, the praying mantis is a voracious and skillful predator. It seizes, with amazing swiftness, other small insects. Prey are held firmly in spiked forelegs. The praying mantis can elongate its thorax and leave the rest of its body almost stationary to provide amazing flexibility of movement. It has excellent vision as well, and can turn its head almost 300 degrees. Best of all, the praying mantis is a master of camouflage. It looks like the plant in which it is hiding. This aids in its ability to ambush and also protects itself from its own predators. It is generally a diurnal insect, since it relies heavily on vision, but it sometimes move to a new territory at night.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Fly 3D Puzzle

You won't want to shoo THIS fly away!!

Our 3D Fly Puzzle

The details on this 3-D puzzle animal toy add another dimension, so you could say it is 4-D (3-D + details)! It is certainly one of the more detailed we have seen, making it an interesting replica as well as a fun toy for adults and children above the age of 3. This delightful insect model comes assembled, and its body is 3 inches long. The pieces are cleverly fitted, flexible, and not too difficult to assemble. When complete, this highly-detailed insect stands nicely on its own for display on your shelf, TV, computer monitor, etc. Check out our other 3-D Puzzle Animals, as well as our other insect toys.

About House Flies

The common house fly (Musca domestica) is from the order Diptera, meaning two-winged, although the house fly actually has only one pair of wings. It has an excellent avoidance reaction due to its sensitivity to air movement. The house fly transmits diseases such as cholera, typhoid, and salmonella and is a menace in poorer areas. The house fly eats only liquids. It spits out saliva onto solid food to pre-digest it. Then it sucks the food back in through its proboscis, spits the food back out again and re-eats it. The house fly is a master at walking upside-down and walking on vertical surfaces. It accomplishes this feat by secreting adhesive juices from glands above its feet. Also the house fly is constantly preening its hairy legs. It must do this in order to keep the smell and taste receptors on the tiny hairs clean and viable.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Stuffed Scorpions

That's right! Stuffed, soft scorpions with posable tails!

Our Stuffed Posable Scorpions

Our exceptionally soft stuffed scorpion toy insects by Fiesta measure 16 inches long. The eyes, legs and tail are securely attached making these charming stuffed insects suitable toys for all ages. To find our other stuffed toy animals from Fiesta, or see our entire inventory of stuffed animals, stuffed beanies and plush hand puppets, check out our Stuffed Animals Page and Stuffed Beanies and Plush Puppets Page. Come look through our entire collection of scorpion toys and gifts.

About Scorpions

Scorpions are found in warm regions. They are arachnids, and therefore more closely related to spiders than to insects. They are found not only in the desert, but also in forests. They spend much of the day under logs and leaf litter, and feed mostly at night on spiders and insects. Most scorpions are only painful to humans and are not especially dangerous, although a few can deliver a fatal sting. Children and elderly people are more at risk from their venom than strong, healthy adults. The approximately 2,000 species of scorpion vary widely in size, from about 1/2 inch to 7 inches long. Our plastic scorpion is most likely an artistic version of the Arizona desert scorpion (Hadrurus arizonensis pallidus), characterized by a dirty light brown/yellow color and a black to brown streak on its back. People have collected scorpions and made a commercial product out of them in the form of paperweights and keychains by placing them inside moulded plastic. Because of this, they have become over-collected and are now "a CITES-listed animal, meaning scorpions could be threatened with extinction if exportation and other threats, such as development, are not regulated." [Wikipedia]

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Cockroach 3D Puzzle

And if you think he's too creepy, you can take him apart!!

Our Plastic 3D Cockroach Puzzle

The details on this 3-D puzzle animal toy add another dimension, so you could say it is 4-D (3-D + details)! It is certainly one of the more detailed we have seen, making it an interesting replica as well as a fun toy for adults and children above the age of 3. This delightful insect model comes assembled, and its body is 3 1/2 inches long. The pieces are cleverly fitted, flexible, and not too difficult to assemble. When complete, this highly-detailed insect stands nicely on its own for display on your shelf, TV, computer monitor, etc. Check out our other 3-D Puzzle Animals, as well as our other insect toys.

About Cockroaches

A cockroach is a general term for a number of species from the order Blattodea. The American species is omnivorous and can be found most anywhere in garbage or around rotting food in the kitchen. Cockroaches are mainly nocturnal and will run away when exposed to light. They are incredibly resilient insects with some species capable of remaining active for a month without food, or being able to survive on limited resources like the glue from the back of postage stamps. Some cockroaches can go without air for 45 minutes and can live without a head for a long time. The lifespan of a cockroach is about a year (assuming it has its head).

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Stuffed Bed Bug

You'll wanna snuggle up to THIS little guy!

Our Stuffed Bed Bug

This lovely, realistic-looking stuffed bed bug is kind and endearing. The legs and antennae are made of soft plush fabric. This allows for a myriad of postions. The body is a rose-pink with large, bulging, dark eyes. This bed bug wants to be your friend and promises not to bite. Check out our other bed bug toys and gifts.

About Bed Bugs

The common bed bug or bedbug (Cimex lectularius), like the flea, feeds on the blood of its host. It lives in crevices, carpeting and especially along the seams of matresses. The bed bug is a solitary insect, but can also live in clusters. It is a nocturnal creature, but creeps around and becomes especially active for a short period before dawn. It can be seen with the naked eye since it is usually 1/8 to 1/3 inches long. Unlike the roach, it is not necessarily associated with a filthy environment. The adult bed bug is oval-shaped and red-bown in color, often compared to a lentil. It scurries rather quickly and therefore may be hard to spot when disturbed at night. The bed bug was, for the most part, eradicated in the 1940s through the use of DDT. It is making a comeback in warmer climates, such as in Florida. Bed bugs bite when disturbed, leaving small red markings. Unlike the tick, it does not crawl under the host's skin. To avoid bedbugs, bedding should be put in the dryer and heated to 120 degrees. This will kill any eggs. Also, spraying with an alcohol-based product is allegedly helpful to kill bed bugs.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Stuffed Bed Bug

Just look at those eyes! Who WOULDN'T want to cuddle up to him!?!

Our Stuffed Bed Bug

This lovely, realistic-looking stuffed bed bug is kind and endearing. The legs and antennae are made of soft plush fabric. This allows for a myriad of postions. The body is a rose-pink with large, bulging, dark eyes. This bed bug wants to be your friend and promises not to bite. Check out our other bed bug toys and gifts.

About Bed Bugs

The common bed bug or bedbug (Cimex lectularius), like the flea, feeds on the blood of its host. It lives in crevices, carpeting and especially along the seams of matresses. The bed bug is a solitary insect, but can also live in clusters. It is a nocturnal creature, but creeps around and becomes especially active for a short period before dawn. It can be seen with the naked eye since it is usually 1/8 to 1/3 inches long. Unlike the roach, it is not necessarily associated with a filthy environment. The adult bed bug is oval-shaped and red-bown in color, often compared to a lentil. It scurries rather quickly and therefore may be hard to spot when disturbed at night. The bed bug was, for the most part, eradicated in the 1940s through the use of DDT. It is making a comeback in warmer climates, such as in Florida. Bed bugs bite when disturbed, leaving small red markings. Unlike the tick, it does not crawl under the host's skin. To avoid bedbugs, bedding should be put in the dryer and heated to 120 degrees. This will kill any eggs. Also, spraying with an alcohol-based product is allegedly helpful to kill bed bugs.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Plastic Hissing Cockroach

Suppose they'll still be here after 12/21???

Our Plastic Hissing Cockroach

This engaging, realistic-looking plastic hissing cockroach is made of hard, flexible plastic. It is 3 inches long and 1 3/4 inches across from leg tip to leg tip. Our cockroach comes from Madagascar and is large with orange and black stripes. Our hissing cockroach replica is a little disgusting, but promises not to bite. It works well for a shoe box diorama or other school projects. It also makes for an interesting party favor or for a gag. Check out our other cockroach toys and gifts. Just to clarify, our toy cockroach does not make any noise - that's the species name of the real cockroach.

About Cockroaches

Hissing cockroaches are of the genus (Gromphadorhina portentosa) are found in Madagascar and are among the largrest cockroaches in the world.They are wingless and are often 2-3 inches long. They live in rotting logs and feed on rotting material and last for about five years. It gets its name by forcing air through its breathing pores in its abdomen, whereas other insects make sound by rubbing legs together.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Plastic Rhinoceros Beetle Replica

This looks like a monster from a sci-fi movie, doesn't it?

Our NEW Plastic Rhinoceros Beetle

Our highly-detailed, museum-quality plastic rhinoceros beetle toy makes a terrific model for teaching your children, grandchildren, or students about the wonders of nature, insects, and the animal world. Our plastic toy rhinoceros beetle is made of solid plastic and is quite durable. Be sure to take a look at our other beetle toys and gifts.

About Japanese Rhinoceros Beetles

The Japanese rhinoceros beetle (Allomyrina dichotoma) is a common insect, and integral part of popular culture, in Japan, China, Taiwan, and Korea. The Japanese name for the species is kabutomushi, which means literally "helmet-bug".

This beetle appears as the center of many television, cinematic, anime, and advertising works in Japan, in much the same way that tigers and geckos do in the United States. Rhino beetles are also popular in games of chance, which usually pit two male beetles in a contest of strength. They are also popular pets, and are even sold from vending machines. Japanese rhino beetles live only four months as a beetle.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Plastic Bumblebee Replica

We're not seeing many of these this time of year!

Our Plastic Bumblebee

Our highly-detailed plastic bumblebee toy makes a terrific model for teaching your children, grandchildren, or students about the wonders of nature, insects, and the animal world. Our plastic toy bumblebee is made of solid plastic and is quite durable. Be sure to take a look at our other bee toys and gifts.

About Bees

Bees are insects, having six legs, a head, thorax and abdomen. Honey bees can be found worldwide. They live in hollw trees as well as in hives kept by beekeepers. The social behavior of these bees is very complex. The colony is made up of the queen bee, drone bees, and worker bees. The lifespan of the queen bee is usually two to three years. Worker bees are sterile female bees who collect, produce, and distribute honey, and also maintain the hive. These bees have pollen buckets on their hind legs as well as pollen scrapers to make their job easier. Worker bees are able to sting, but they die shortly afterwards. Honey bees help to pollinate flowers and crops and produce honey. Of the approximately 20,000 species of bee, fewer than 20 are considered true honey bees. These are classified in the genus Apis. "The first Apis bees appear in the fossil record at the Eocene-Oligocene boundary, in European deposits dating about 35 million years ago" according to Wikipedia. This does not mean that honey bees originated in Europe, but only that they were there at that time.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Plastic Fat-tailed Scorpion

Not many of THESE in the Oregon Coast Range! WHEW!!

Our Plastic Fat-Tailed Scorpion Replica

Our plastic fat-tailed scorpion is an interesting toy or replica. Look at the lifelike detail. The body is dark, and you can see the reddish hue on the pincers, distinguishing it from other plastic scorpions. It also has a square, bulky tail. The exact shape is hard to see in this photo, but it makes this scorpion somewhat unique. Wouldn't our plastic fat-tailed scorpion be perfect in a diorama for a school project about scorpions, venomous animals, or various desert regions of the world? It also makes a superb educational toy. The fat-tailed scorpion has many realistic details that can teach children about arachnids, and it is flexible to minimize scratches to humans, so it can be used as a durable toy as well. This plastic scorpion can be held in your hand and we promise - it will not sting! The fat-tailed scorpion can be used to enhance reports at school, can be used by therapists for sand trays, or just carry the scorpion around in your pocket to entertain your friends. Check out our other scorpion and arachnid toys, gifts, and lifelike replicas.

About Fat-tailed Scorpions

Scorpions are found in warm regions. They are arachnids, and therefore more closely related to spiders than to insects. They are found not only in the desert, but also in forests. They spend much of the day under logs and leaf litter, and feed mostly at night on spiders and insects. Most scorpions are only painful to humans and are not especially dangerous, although a few can deliver a fatal sting. Children and elderly people are more at risk from their venom than strong, healthy adults. The approximately 2,000 species of scorpion vary widely in size, from about 1/2 inch to 7 inches long. Our plastic scorpion is most likely an artistic version of the Arizona desert scorpion (Hadrurus arizonensis pallidus), characterized by a dirty light brown/yellow color and a black to brown streak on its back. People have collected scorpions and made a commercial product out of them in the form of paperweights and keychains by placing them inside moulded plastic. Because of this, they have become over-collected and are now "a CITES-listed animal, meaning scorpions could be threatened with extinction if exportation and other threats, such as development, are not regulated." [Wikipedia]

Fat-tailed scorpions are found in the arid and semi-arid regions of the Middle East and North Africa. The neurotoxin venom of this 4-inch-long scorpion can be fatal to humans, causing several deaths each year.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Plastic Mexican Redknee Tarantula Replica

So real, I don't even like the PICTURE!

Our Plastic Mexican Redknee Tarantula Replica

Our highly-detailed, colorful, plastic Mexican redknee tarantula toy makes a terrific model for teaching your children, grandchildren, or students about the wonders of nature, spiders, and the animal world. Our plastic toy Mexican redknee tarantula is made of solid plastic and is quite durable. Be sure to take a look at our other tarantula and other spider toys and gifts.

About Tarantulas

The true tarantula (Lycosa tarantula) is an Italian wolf spider whose habitat is centered around the city of Taranto. While this was the first species of spider to be named "tarantula", it is not to be confused with the tarantulas of the western hemisphere. A true tarantula is neither large nor hairy, and while its venom has never been proven to be threatening to humans, local superstition says the bite of a tarantula produses a disease called "tarantism", which can only be cured through the performance of a frenzied dance called the tarantella.

Particularly in North America, the term "tarantula" commonly refers to any large-bodied, hairy spider. Currently, over 900 species of spider have been associated with the name tarantula. Some hunt primarily in trees, some on the ground. All tarantulas are venomous, but most are harmless to humans, with very few having extremely unpleasant side effects. The largest species of tarantula, the Goliath Birdeater (Theraphosa blondi) has a leg-span of up to 12 inches and can weigh almost half a pound.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.