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title: "What the sources say about the Chilean Rose Tarantula | AnimalTracks.wiki"
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# What the sources say about the Chilean Rose Tarantula (*Grammostola rosea*)

> 36 claims from the Chilean Rose Tarantula profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Chilean Rose Tarantula](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/tarantula/)

## Chilean rose tarantula. Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.

https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/chilean-rose-tarantula

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Desert and scrub habitats across Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia | The Chilean rose tarantula is native to Chile, Argentina and Bolivia in desert and scrub habitats. (note: stats.habitat) |
| A variety of invertebrates, plus small vertebrates such as mice, frogs, and lizards | Chilean rose tarantulas are active predators, feeding on a variety of invertebrates as well as small vertebrates like mice, frogs and lizards. (note: stats.diet) |
| This is a medium-sized tarantula that lives on the ground. Females average a leg span of 12 to 13 centimeters and males about 9 centimeters, though males have proportionally longer legs. | The Chilean rose tarantula is a medium-sized terrestrial tarantula, with females averaging a leg span of 5 inches (12-13 centimeters). Males average closer to 3.5 inches (9 centimeters) but have proportionally longer legs than females. |
| Females live up to twenty years in human care, far outliving males, which die within a few months of mating. | Females live up to 20 years in human care, significantly longer than males. Males pass away a few months after mating. |
| To grow, it must go through several molts, and spiderlings molt five or six times in their first year. | In order to grow, Chilean rose tarantulas must go through several molts. Molting is the process by which the tarantula sheds its old exoskeleton and emerges in a new, larger one. Spiderlings can be expected to molt five or six times in their first year. |
| The species is native to desert and scrub habitat across Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia, where it hunts at night. | The Chilean rose tarantula is native to Chile, Argentina and Bolivia in desert and scrub habitats ... Chilean rose tarantulas prefer to hunt at night. |
| It feeds on a variety of invertebrates as well as small vertebrates such as mice, frogs, and lizards, relying on its size to subdue them. | Chilean rose tarantulas are active predators, feeding on a variety of invertebrates as well as small vertebrates like mice, frogs and lizards. Tarantulas hunt at night and rely on their large size to subdue prey. |
| It can throw irritating hairs from its body in defense | These spiders can throw irritating hairs from their body in defense. |

## Parry (1957). Spider Leg-muscles and the Autotomy Mechanism. Journal of Cell Science.

https://doi.org/10.1242/jcs.s3-98.43.331

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| with no extensor muscles at two leg joints | Spider leg-muscles have been redescribed and the absence of extensor muscles at two joints confirmed. (note: tagline; Parry's scope is spiders in general (abstract names no species; paper closed, 403)) |
| No extensor muscles at two leg joints, where blood pressure may work against the flexors | Spider leg-muscles have been redescribed and the absence of extensor muscles at two joints confirmed. The possibility that the flexors at these joints act in antagonism to the blood-pressure is discussed. (note: stats.superpower; 'may' keeps the source's 'possibility') |
| Spiders have flexor muscles to pull their legs in, but a 1957 study of spider leg muscles confirmed that they have no extensor muscles at two of their leg joints. | Spider leg-muscles have been redescribed and the absence of extensor muscles at two joints confirmed. (note: scope: spiders in general, as the abstract states) |
| The study raised the possibility that the flexors there work against the spider's own blood pressure, so that haemolymph, the fluid inside its body, would do the straightening a muscle normally does. | The possibility that the flexors at these joints act in antagonism to the blood-pressure is discussed. (note: 'act in antagonism to the blood-pressure' glossed; hedge kept) |
| A 1957 anatomical study of spider legs confirmed that spiders lack extensor muscles at two leg joints, leaving only flexors, the muscles that pull a limb in. | Spider leg-muscles have been redescribed and the absence of extensor muscles at two joints confirmed. (note: FAQ 3; 'flexor' defined in plain words) |
| The author suggested those flexors may work in opposition to the spider's blood pressure, which would then push the leg straight. | The possibility that the flexors at these joints act in antagonism to the blood-pressure is discussed. (note: FAQ 3; hedge kept) |
| Two Joints Without Extensors | Spider leg-muscles have been redescribed and the absence of extensor muscles at two joints confirmed. (note: heading) |

## Canals, Veloso & Solís (2015). Adaptation of the spiders to the environment: the case of some Chilean species. Frontiers in Physiology.

https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2015.00220

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| a metabolism that slows when food runs short | a metabolic depression at 30°C with food deprivation has been reported in G. rosea (note: tagline) |
| a difference in oxygen partial pressure of just 0.12 to 0.16 kilopascals across the lung barrier covers its resting oxygen needs, against about 7.5 kilopascals that mammals require | a difference of oxygen partial pressure of only 0.12–0.16 kPa is sufficient to sustain their energy requirements, which is very impressive compared to about 7.5 kPa that mammals require |
| lungs are so refined | The lungs of mygalomorph spiders have been reported as highly refined. For example, in G. rosea the harmonic mean of the air-barrier lymph is 0.14 ± 0.03 μm, with high respiratory surface and a large lung volume, which determines a high oxygen diffusion capacity. |
| Among spiders it counts as large, at more than 14 grams. | In Grammostola rosea , a large spider of more than14 g, a metabolic rate of 0.027 ± 0.01 mlO 2 /gh was found, which corresponds to 63.3% of the expected value for other spiders of its body mass. |
| Its metabolic rate is 63 percent of the value expected for other spiders of its body mass | In Grammostola rosea , a large spider of more than14 g, a metabolic rate of 0.027 ± 0.01 mlO 2 /gh was found, which corresponds to 63.3% of the expected value for other spiders of its body mass. (note: 63.3%, rounded to 63%) |
| researchers have recorded that rate dropping at 30°C when it is deprived of food | a metabolic depression at 30°C with food deprivation has been reported in G. rosea |
| Measured by oxygen use, it burns energy at about 63 percent of the rate expected for a spider of its body mass | In Grammostola rosea , a large spider of more than14 g, a metabolic rate of 0.027 ± 0.01 mlO 2 /gh was found, which corresponds to 63.3% of the expected value for other spiders of its body mass. (note: FAQ 1; 63.3%, rounded to 63%; rate is in mlO2/gh) |
| Deprive it of food and the rate falls further, a metabolic depression researchers have reported at 30°C. | a metabolic depression at 30°C with food deprivation has been reported in G. rosea (note: FAQ 1) |
| metabolic rate is 63 percent of the value expected for other spiders of its body mass | In Grammostola rosea , a large spider of more than14 g, a metabolic rate of 0.027 ± 0.01 mlO 2 /gh was found, which corresponds to 63.3% of the expected value for other spiders of its body mass. (note: vibe.reason, settled in #913; 63.3% rounded) |
| drops further when it is deprived of food | a metabolic depression at 30°C with food deprivation has been reported in G. rosea (note: vibe.reason, settled in #913) |

## Kimura, Ono & Kubo (2012). Molecular Cloning and Sequence Analysis of the cDNAs Encoding Toxin-Like Peptides from the Venom Glands of Tarantula Grammostola rosea. International Journal of Peptides.

https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/731293

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Scientists sequencing genes from Grammostola rosea venom glands predicted forty-eight new toxin-like peptides from the sequences. | we present the identification of venom components obtained by sequencing clones isolated from a cDNA library prepared from the venom glands of the Chilean common tarantula, Grammostola rosea ... Forty-eight novel toxin-like peptides (GTx1 to GTx7, and GTx-TCTP and GTx-CRISP) were predicted from the nucleotide sequences. (note: also covers the heading 'Forty-Eight Toxin-Like Peptides') |
| Forty-Eight Toxin-Like Peptides | Forty-eight novel toxin-like peptides (GTx1 to GTx7, and GTx-TCTP and GTx-CRISP) were predicted from the nucleotide sequences. (note: heading) |

## Kimura (2021). Stability and Safety of Inhibitor Cystine Knot Peptide, GTx1-15, from the Tarantula Spider Grammostola rosea. Toxins.

https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins13090621

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| One of them, GTx1-15, inhibits one voltage-dependent calcium channel and two voltage-dependent sodium channels. | GTx1-15 is an ICK peptide that inhibits the voltage-dependent calcium channel Ca v 3.1 and the voltage-dependent sodium channels Na v 1.3 and Na v 1.7. |

## Gooley et al. (2025). A Case Report of Delayed, Severe, Paroxysmal Muscle Cramping after Chilean Rose Tarantula (Grammostola rosea) Envenomation. Clinical Practice and Cases in Emergency Medicine.

https://doi.org/10.5811/cpcem.24973

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| doctors studying tarantula bites note that New World species like this one typically cause injuries to people through their urticating hairs, which can penetrate skin and mucous membranes and cause local tissue reactions | Tarantulas, particularly the “New World” species of North, Central and South America, typically cause injuries to humans via their urticating hairs, which can penetrate into skin and mucous membranes leading to localized tissue reactions. |
| The hairs appear rose-colored on Grammostola rosea, which is where the "Chilean rose" name comes from. | Urticating hairs of G rosea appear rose-colored; hence, it is commonly known as the Chilean rose or rose hair tarantula. |
| Doctors reporting a bite from this species that left a woman with weeks of cramping | After discharge, her paroxysmal muscle cramping continued for four weeks before completely resolving. |
| note that trouble with both kinds of channel could affect muscle contractions | Both sodium- and calcium-channel dysfunction could affect muscle contractions and potentially lead to spontaneous or prolonged depolarization. |
| Bites from this species are rare and poorly described in the medical literature. | Like Theraphosidae in general, bites from G rosea are rare and poorly described in the medical literature. |
| Case reports of tarantula bites in adults commonly describe local tissue damage and pain | Case reports of theraphosid bites in adults commonly describe local tissue damage and local pain. |
| doctors have published a case where a Grammostola rosea bite on a woman's forearm caused severe local muscle cramping within hours, and the cramping went on for four weeks after she left hospital | A 42-year-old woman was holding a G rosea tarantula when she was bit on the forearm. Within hours, severe local muscle cramping occurred. ... After discharge, her paroxysmal muscle cramping continued for four weeks before completely resolving. |
| How tarantula venom causes muscle spasms is not well understood. | The mechanism of muscle-spasm toxicity from theraphosid envenomation is not well understood |