Bug FAQTexas Brown Tarantula
Aphonopelma hentzi · Order: Araneae · Family: Theraphosidae
Also called: Chocolate Brown Tarantula, Oklahoma Brown Tarantula
Source: Wikipedia
Adult Texas brown tarantulas can have a leg span over 10 cm and weigh more than 85 g. They live on the ground in grasslands, in burrows or under logs and line their shelters with silk to sense prey. Females lay a few hundred to a thousand eggs and can live for decades.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The body is dark brown, while males have black legs and a copper-colored carapace.
Source: Wikipedia
Does it bite or sting?
The large fangs can cause painful punctures that may become infected if not treated.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They are ground-dwelling, found in grasslands, burrows, or in abandoned animal dens. Silk from their spinnerets lines the entrance of their homes to detect passing prey.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
They use silk at their shelter entrances to sense prey that walks by.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
A female can lay roughly 200 to 1,000 eggs. Females may live up to 40 years, possibly longer.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Males become mature and wander in search of females during the fall.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
They also occur in northern Mexico along the New Mexico and Texas borders.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It is also called the Oklahoma brown tarantula or Missouri tarantula and is one of the most common Southern U.S. tarantulas.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 11 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Louisiana.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
Where are they found?
They live in grasslands and burrows across many central and southern U.S. states and into northern Mexico.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Theraphosidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_brown_tarantula
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.