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The Thai Black Tarantula moves fast and is quite aggressive, so it is advisable to give it a wide berth. It has a poisonous bite, but is not deadly to humans unless the victim is allergic. It can also eject stiff, sharp, barbed hairs from its abdomen, which it uses like miniature spears.
One of the largest and heaviest scorpions in the world lives in Khao Sok: it has a large pair of powerful pincers in front, with a long poison-tipped tail at the rear with which it repeatedly stabs its victims into paralysis. The poison from scorpions usually has no more effect on humans than that of a bee sting but it can, if a person is allergic, be fatal.
During reproduction, the male will grab the female pincer-to-pincer, which then leads to what has been described as a dance. In fact the male is searching for a flat place to lay his spermatophore, whilst attempting to avoid being eaten by his partner. The female is then pulled over this deposit and absorbs it into her body in order to fertilise her eggs. This ‘dance’, which can last anything from one to twenty four hours, often ends with the male being devoured by his much larger ‘lover’.
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