Desert blonde tarantula
Aphonopelma chalcodes
- Size
- Leg span 8 to 13cm
- Look for it
- June to October
- Where
- Burrows in desert soil in Arizona and northern Mexico
A large, hairy spider. The female is pale sandy-blonde, with a darker abdomen and legs.
The desert tarantula that follows you
This page is the Sonoran Desert of Arizona, among the cactus. Move your pointer and your bug will plod, scuttle or hop after you. Choose a different bug at the bottom, and tap the notes to open them.
The Sonoran Desert right now checking the sky…
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01 · BlondeA blonde spider
The female's body is covered in pale, straw-coloured hair. Males are darker and leggier.
02 · WalkThe males go walking
After the summer rains, males leave their burrows and walk for miles looking for females. They are often seen crossing roads.
03 · LongSlow to grow up
It takes about ten years to become an adult. Females can then live for another fifteen or twenty.
04 · DoorA silk curtain
She covers the mouth of her burrow with a veil of silk by day.
05 · HairsItchy hairs
If bothered she kicks barbed hairs off her abdomen. They itch and sting.
06 · GentleNot dangerous
She is slow and unwilling to bite, and her venom is about as strong as a bee's.
Meet them all
Who's who in the desert
Tarantula hawk wasp
Pepsis
- Size
- Up to 5cm long
- Look for it
- May to September
- Where
- Deserts and dry country from the southern United States to South America
A large wasp with a blue-black body, bright orange wings and curled antennae.
Arizona bark scorpion
Centruroides sculpturatus
- Size
- About 7 to 8cm long
- Look for it
- April to October
- Where
- Rocky desert, trees and houses in Arizona and nearby
A slender, straw-coloured scorpion with thin pincers and a long, thin tail.
Honeypot ant
Myrmecocystus
- Size
- Workers about 1cm; a full honeypot up to the size of a grape
- Look for it
- All year round
- Where
- Deserts of the south-western United States and Mexico
An amber-brown ant. Some workers are so swollen with nectar that their abdomens are round, shiny and see-through.
Pinacate beetle
Eleodes
- Size
- 2 to 3.5cm long
- Look for it
- All year round
- Where
- Deserts and dry grassland across western North America
A plain, jet-black, long-legged beetle that stands on its head when alarmed.
Rainbow grasshopper
Dactylotum bicolor
- Size
- 2 to 3.5cm long
- Look for it
- July to October
- Where
- Dry grassland and desert from the Great Plains to northern Mexico
A stubby grasshopper boldly patterned in blue-black, red and yellow.
Through the year
When to look for them
The desert is fiercely hot in summer, with a short rainy season in July and August. Most of these are easiest to see in the warm months, and at night. The bug following you is shown in red.
Desert tarantula
Tarantula hawk
Bark scorpion
Honeypot ant
Stink beetle
Rainbow grasshopper
Good to know
Six things about desert bugs
A night shift
By day the ground can be hot enough to cook on. Most desert animals wait for dark.
Scorpions glow
Under an ultraviolet torch, every scorpion shines blue-green. It is how people check their yards.
Everything happens after rain
The summer storms bring out ants, beetles, tarantulas and toads all at once.
Shake out your boots
Scorpions and spiders shelter in shoes and bedding. People in the desert check before they dress.
A waxed coat
Desert insects have an extra-thick waxy skin that keeps their water in.
Holes are homes
A burrow a few centimetres down is many degrees cooler than the surface.
North American bugs: 1 more place
Where next?
Photo gallery
Real photos of the bugs on this page. Tap one to see it bigger.
Desert blonde tarantula
Tarantula hawk wasp
Arizona bark scorpion
Honeypot ant
Pinacate beetle
Rainbow grasshopper
Photos are from Wikimedia Commons and are used under free licences. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews. Open a photo to see who took it.
Life on very little water
Desert bugs have solved the same problem in a dozen ways: stay underground, come out at night, store food in your friends, and waste nothing.
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