Rosa, the Chilean Rose Tarantula

Rosa is the oldest live animal in our collection! She was born in 1999 at the home of museum founder Wade Harrell. She was bred in captivity; both of her parents were pets belonging to Wade. Rosa was a popular “spider ambassador” at the Harrell House Bug Museum and was handled by many visitors in the early years of the Bug Museum. She was retired from handling duties in 2015 because of her age, but she continues to thrive. We hope to have her for many more years!

Female tarantulas typically live between 10-20 years, but many species are poorly studied so even longer lifespans are possible. It is only within the last 20-30 years that tarantulas have been reliably bred in captivity allowing a better understanding of their true longevity. Many keepers report having specimens over 25 years old., with some living as long as 35 years. Male tarantulas are much shorter lived, and typically live a year or less after reaching adulthood. However, even the males live longer than most other spiders as it may take them 5-10 years to to become adults, The majority of spiders live less than 3 years total.

The common name ‘Chilean rose’ or ‘rosehair’ has been applied to several reddish/pinkish species in the genus Grammostola. There has been a lot of confusion over the years as to which is which, but we suspect Rosa is the Grammostola porteri, also known as the Chilean common tarantula. This species was by far the most common tarantula in the pet trade for decades, from the 80’s to well into the 2000’s, but because of changing export laws in their home country they are rare in the trade now.