What Does “A Clew of Tarantulas” Mean?
“Clew” is an old English word for a ball of thread or yarn, the same root that eventually gave us “clue.” Applied to tarantulas, it’s a nod to silk: even though tarantulas aren’t known for spinning elaborate webs the way many other spiders do, they still produce and use silk constantly, lining their burrows, wrapping prey, and laying down safety lines called drag lines as they move.
Like most spiders, tarantulas are solitary and territorial by nature, defending their own burrow and rarely tolerating close company, so a genuine “clew” gathered together is uncommon. Where it does happen, it’s usually one of two situations: a female’s spiderlings clustering near her burrow shortly after hatching, or, in a handful of desert species, several individuals digging burrows close together in an especially good patch of ground, more coincidence of geography than any real social bond.
Despite their fearsome reputation, most tarantula species are surprisingly docile, and a bite is typically no worse than a bee sting. Female tarantulas can also live remarkably long lives, twenty to thirty years in some species, far outliving the males, who often survive only a few years after reaching maturity.
Example: “A clew of tarantulas” had burrowed within a few feet of each other along the dry hillside, an unusually social arrangement for such solitary spiders.
Related: Collective Nouns for Arachnids