By Cody Whitlock

When I arrived in Costa Rica, I began noticing how many spiders there were and how much they differed from Georgia’s spiders. I became very interested in them and decided to look deeper into the species here. I researched one species for a report and am using spiders for my research.

Costa Rica is home to around 2,000 species of spiders and tarantulas. These creatures can range from the beautiful Arrow-shaped orbweaver (M. sagitatta) to the dangerous Brazilian wandering spiders (Phonuetria sp.). You can see spiders as small as the Salticidae family (jumping spiders) and as large as the goliath birdeater (T. blondi). We have been able to see many species throughout our travels.

Also found in Costa Rica in the spider order (Araneae) there are tarantulas. The way to tell these from true spiders is tarantulas are typically larger and hairy. Both have eight legs, but tarantulas also have two more large appendages around their mouth, this is one of the best ways to tell them apart. Tarantulas do not build webs like most true spiders, instead they are typically ambush predators.

A large difference I’ve noticed in spider biodiversity in Costa Rica compared to Georgia is in the wolf spiders. While I have been here, I have seen as many species of wolf spider as there are in total in Georgia. This is even more surprising since I have only spent three months here and have seen almost all these spiders in one area.

Here, I have learned a lot about these amazing creatures and hope to be able to use that knowledge when I am back home. I have started to be on an active lookout for spiders here and will continue this.