Scuttling along the floor of the Amazon rainforest, the Brazilian wandering spider is only one of the millions of living creatures that inhabit the biodiverse land. With a mere two inches to its body and four inches with its legs fully outstretched, the arachnid is almost insignificant to the vast forest it resides. All different kinds of mammals, insects, plants, fish, birds, and more take shelter in the Amazon rainforest (which covers about 60% of Brazil), and most of which are arguably bigger than the Brazilian wandering spider; but that does not mean that the spider is defenseless. In actuality, this spider is one of the most venomous in the world, and could possibly even kill a human with the ejection of enough venom into one’s bloodstream.
The traditionally brown and hairy spider, with a black spot on its belly to signify that it is no ordinary arachnid, received its name for its habit of wandering the forest floor rather than crawling up to a high, out-of-reach space. It prefers not to spin webs for a place to call home, but rather spends its days squeezing under fallen logs and hidden crevices, unable to be seen by the predators of the forest. When the sun sets and the darkness of night fills the space of the forest, the spider leaves its home to hunt for food. It does not attack creatures bigger than itself unless provoked and in self-defense--it keeps to a diet of insects and other spiders smaller than itself.
Rodents, such as the jumping mouse, which can range in size from 16 inches to 24 inches, may try looking for a home in the same place as the Brazilian wandering spider, causing it to defend itself. As the mouse starts burrowing into its home, the spider raises its two pairs of front legs in an intimidating stance. This stance allows the tiny hairs to rise up and expose its fangs, sharing with the mouse that it is ready to attack. The mouse chooses not to listen, and the spider is forced to attack. It pounces, sinking its fangs into its skin and releasing just enough venom to paralyze and then kill the mouse three times its size. Though the spider doesn’t usually feast on things larger than itself, this deceased mouse has now provided it with many days’ worth of food.
Some nights, the spider will climb up into banana plants, another favorite place of theirs. The females of the species are prone to depositing their eggs into an egg sac created by the spinning of their own webs and leaving them in banana plants until the time they are able to hatch and join the world. This process can make the harvesting of bananas perilous, as the harvesters must make sure the bananas they are picking do not have spiders residing inside of them. With just one careless banana picker or person who doesn’t wash off the bananas well enough, an egg sac full of hundreds of Brazilian wandering spiders could potentially be sent off to a grocery store in an entirely different part of the world.
There is a story about a family in England who bought bananas from their local grocery store. These bananas had not been checked properly for spider eggs, and when the mom went to open one, an egg broke open, resulting in hundreds of baby Brazilian wandering spiders to invade the house. Forced to evacuate, the situation was eventually taken care of by an intense team of pest controllers.
Bananas are just one of about 3000 fruits produced in the Amazon rainforest. The spider has its choice of fruits it could lay eggs in, but bananas, one of the most produced fruits, is its number one choice. Additionally, the spider has countless miles to explore, but due to its size, is confined to a limited area. The Amazon is the largest rainforest on Earth, stretching about 3 million square miles, but the small Brazilian wandering spider could never hope to trek the vast surrounding of its own home. Full of rivers and countless trees, the arachnid will never know the ends of the space it resides.
One tiny spider, with an almost insignificant role of life other than to eat and protect itself, lives in one of the richest, most diverse places in the entire world. It takes refuge in a forest that provides humans with endless amount of fruits as well as assisting the environment in pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and cooling down the planet. The Amazon also stabilizes rainfall cycles in South America so that the people who live in that part of the world are better prepared for the weather.
The Amazon is an incredibly important piece of land, which makes the raging fires spreading across the jungle even more tragic. Wildfires in the Amazon are not uncommon; however, this year alone, there have been more wildfires than ever before. If the forest were to continue to burn, the damage to the environment would be indescribable, with more carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere without the forest to help cool down the planet. Efforts to stop these wildfires have been minimal at best, with the president of Brazil refusing to acknowledge efforts to protect the forest and pushing the blame onto others. Should the forest continue to burn, however, Brazil will very soon be a place nearly inhabitable, as the weather cycle becomes out of control and excessive heating of the ozone layer with nothing to balance it out.
Although the destruction of the Amazon rainforest will affect South America more than any other part of the world, global warming has been heating up Earth for years now and will lead to the demise of life on this planet. Due to the planet’s rising temperature, polar ice caps are melting, sea levels are rising, severe droughts are occurring, and, of course, the number of severe wildfires is growing. For now, the forest—home to many of the world’s most diverse life—remains standing, but its future is still unknown. Day by day, fires are spreading and killing a bit of life force the Amazon holds.
As the fire blazes across the forest, the Brazilian wandering spider continues to explore. However, even as the arachnid attempts to escape the dangers of its home, the fire will catch up to it. It will be trapped in the terrible heat, a heat that destroys everything in its path. No matter how fast the spider tries to run, it will eventually be caught by the flame; burning and shriveling to nothing but a charred crisp will be the venomous spider’s future.
Anthony Martinez is an English major with an emphasis in Creative Writing and Linguistics graduating from NAU in May 2020. He worked as a copy editor with these publications to ensure the pieces were ready to be published.
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