It's cuffing season for horny tarantulas as thousands of spiders travel the US looking for love

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They’ll go anywhere for love.

Arachnophobes beware: thousands of horny tarantulas are emerging from their subterranean dwellings and scouring America’s southwest for a soulmate.

“This event does happen every year, usually around the same time,” Lauren Davidson, Associate Curator of Entomology at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, told BBC Science Focus of the frisky phenomenon.

The mass mating migration generally occurs from June-October (depending on the region), during which reproductively mature males — aged 8-10 years old — will seek mates across Colorado, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.

This hairy horde is difficult to spot as these love pilgrimages generally occur at night. Greg Rice/YouTube

A Desert Blonde tarantula on the move in the Sonoran Desert. Nicholas Taffs

What prompts this paramour pilgrimage?

“The females tend to stay in their burrows and emit pheromones to let males know where to find them,” Davidson explained.

Then, turned-on male tarantulas emerge from their silk-lined burrows hungry for love. Once they’ve tracked the perfume down to its source, the spider suitor will “knock at the door” by rhythmically tapping at the entrance.

If the courtship display is deemed acceptable, she could meet him.

Naturally, the idea of thousands of tarantulas — which are America’s largest spider — going on a love Odyssey might seem apocalyptic.

However, this sexpedition is actually rare to come across.

Male tarantulas only embark on this “burrows tour” once in their life. Michael Wifall

“The females tend to stay in their burrows and emit pheromones to let males know where to find them,” explained Texas-based entomologist Lauren Davidson. MBullock/Tarantula Forum

Male tarantulas are only alive for one mating season — they spend the rest of their lives underground — and only travel around half a mile from their burrows.

“It is very cyclical and region-dependent,” Davidson explained. “You really have to drive quite a way out of the city to see any of these males.”

“If people haven’t noticed these large numbers before, then they likely won’t notice them this year either,” she added.

Not to mention that tarantulas are also nocturnal, so the majority of this soulmate searching occurs at night.

If one does come across one of these amorous eight-leggers, they have nothing to fear as most are docile to the point that people handle them in the field sans incidents.

“They can bite, but their venom is comparable to a bee sting,” said Davidson.

However, the horny spiders have been known to cause traffic pileups while crossing the road.

In fact, these pilgrimages are much more perilous for the critters themselves, as along with getting run over, they can be devoured by the very female they are trying to court.

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