The legs are joined to the prosoma by flexible membrane called pleurae.

They have eight legs and two pedipalps,the pedipalps are the two short ‘legs’ next to the chelicerae. The legs are numbered in pairs I, II, III, IV starting from the pedipalps.

It moves its legs using a system of muscle and hydraulics. Basically the muscle can only pull the leg inwards towards the body, it pumps the legs up to walk, using the valves in the legs as controllers. This is why when a spider dies the legs are curled up under the body, because the muscles retract and there is no opposing pressure to extend the legs.

A tarantula breathes using the book lungs on the underside of its body. These are clearly visible in a moulted exuvium as white blots inside the abdomen. They do not breathe in and out as we do, but rely on diffusion and absorption.

Between the forward book lungs is the epigynal plate this is bounded by the epigastric furrow. The furrow is a means of sexual identification, if the furrow is open, like a smiley mouth , then the specimen has a spermathecae and is female. It is not always easy to see especially on young tarantulas.

The mouth parts of a tarantula are located at the base of the chelicerae, the lower lip is labium the upper lip labrum, these are small plates which do not move, they use the chelicerae and the coxae of the pedipalps to ‘chew’ their food, they regurgitate digestive fluids which dissolve the food, this is what the spider ingests, they do not eat solid food, only fluids.