Tarantula pedipalps explained

by Polly Spring: Animals

Eight walking legs is what tarantulas actually move on, not the ten people usually assume. Up at the front sit two pedipalps, and those appendages work somewhat like a pair of hands, picking up on the world and gripping prey. For adult males, there's another job on top of that: the pedipalps become specialised for transferring sperm when mating. Worth clearing up, since the leg-count mix-up sticks around.