Greetings, class, and welcome to yet another week of Defense Against the Dark Arts.
I know that lately we’ve been focusing on fear and creatures that employ it as a weapon, however due to the nature of recent sightings and attacks near the school, I thought it best to shift gears for the time being. Today we’ll be covering a bit about the Acromantula.
Ministry of Magic Classification:
Beast
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The name Acromantula has the Greek ακρος (acros/acro), meaning high or “peak,” and -mantula, from the English “tarantula.” True to their name, Acromantulas are massive arachnids who tend to spin their expansive webs high in tree tops. Despite the names bearing a phonetic similarity to Tarantulas, they appear more like Wolf Spiders and are, in all depictions, araneomorphae.
Acromantulas are terrifyingly ginormous arachnids whose legs can span up to fifteen feet. The males are of course smaller than the females, as is quite commonly found in the animal kingdom, but it does not make them any slower or less venomous than the female. Both are equally dangerous.
Acromantulas, unlike the common spider, are sentient to some unknown degree, making them quite capable, once they’ve reached an age of adolescence, of human speech. To some degree, if so desired, they can even control their predatory urges. There is some evidence that, if raised from the egg sack to adulthood by the same witch or wizard, they may create a special bond of attachment with the person who raised them…rather than seeing them as a source of food.
Now, as to their physical description….they quite often –though not always– resemble extraordinarily large wolf spiders. Usually black or dark brown and hairy, with eight long legs comprised of –from body to tip of the leg– the femur, patella, tibia, metatarsus, and then the tarsus at the very tip of the leg. On the hind end of their abdomen are large spinnerets, which help them to produce a thick, sticky webbing with which they capture large prey.
They have eight black eyes, though if they’re blind their eyes can be white.
Above their abdomen which is the bulbous hind end of a spider, is the piece to which their legs are attached and often one of the most well protected areas as it is considerably harder than the rest of the body, this is called the carapace.
Around their mouths, they have two very strong pedipalps which are often used to help hold prey to their mouths if it is struggling to get away. Adjacent to their pedipalps just inside their grasp, are two fat chelicerae, which are used like pincer-like claws, at the tips of which are their fangs which are connected to their venom sac. Their fangs are how they may inject their venom into their victim to paralyze, kill, and slowly liquefy the innards of the poor creature. At which time they may suck out your innards, leaving behind a dry husk. They prefer human flesh to that of any animal. The fully grown female Acromantula can be as big as a fully grown adult carthorse.
Female Acromantulas at full adult size have been known to occasionally take down giants as prey, though not usually alone. Why is this?
Unlike common spiders which tend to prefer to live, hunt, and eat alone, the Acromantulas are social creatures with their own hierarchy of social class, preferring to live in large colonies governed over by their oldest male and oldest female — which often equates to the two largest spiders of either sex. It is not uncommon for dozens or even hundreds of spiders from the same colony to hunt and set traps for prey together, considering the female on average can lay up to 100 egg sacs at a time, each sac containing a few dozens spiders. The egg sacs themselves are usually white and the size of beach balls.
The larger and older of the colony could, conceivably, work together to trap a giant which could feed them for quite a long time…though giants are not unintelligent and would not often be found going near areas with known Acromantula colonies.
Acromantulas are not native to this continent. In fact, their natural habitat isn’t even in these colder climates, as they prefer dense jungle and warm climates. However due to the frequent smuggling of rare or foreign creatures across borders, we end up with species which adapt to the harsher climates. The Acromantula is traditionally native to South-East Asia, more specifically the jungle-infested Islands of Borneo.
Considering how quickly the Acromantula can reproduce, why, then, are we not completely overrun with them? The Acromantula is a carnivore, and as such, not against cannibalism in times of scarce food alternatives.
Whenever a member of an Acromantula colony dies, his or her corpse will be eaten by the other spiders upon death. This includes the leaders of a colony. It is not known if a dead Acromantula will be mourned by other members of its species so it cannot be said for certain if this is a funeral rite or simply a way to acquire food.
The basilisk is the worst enemy of all spiders, including Acromantulas, feared so much that they do not even dare to speak of it, instead they use a euphemism in place of its name, (similar to how wizards speak of Lord Voldemort.) It is their greatest threat due to the basilisk’s killing gaze and the fact that spiders have many eyes that they are unable to close, thus making them highly vulnerable targets.
Acromantulas tend to reside in thick jungles and heavily forested areas, and their webs are large and dome-shaped, the largest of which will usually be found at the center of a colony housing the leader(s) of the colony and some of their larger children.
A colony of Acromantulas was established in the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry by Aragog and his mate, Mosag. Rubeus Hagrid originally kept a young Aragog in a cupboard box in the school’s dungeons. Aragog was released into the Forest by Rubeus Hagrid at about the time of the 1943 opening of the Chamber of Secrets.
The Forbidden Forest Acromantula colony participated in the Battle of Hogwarts in 1998, when the Death Eaters drove them out of the Forest, and towards Hogwarts Castle to force them to eat staff and students. It was rather an unfortunate way for a large portion of the Acromantula colony to die, and ever since the relationship between the spiders and Hogwarts has been strained at best. This was not the first time the Spiders have had dealings, good or bad, with Hogwarts, as they have been used in the past as guardians of the TriWizard Cup.
Acromantula venom is a highly valuable fluid that is secreted from the pincers of an Acromantula. Due to the nature of the Acromantula, the venom is virtually impossible to collect from a live specimen. The venom is therefore easier to collect after the death of the creature, but the venom dries out not long after death, so a Wizard must be swift in collecting it. Because of the rarity of the venom, it may fetch up to a hundred Galleons a pint on the open market.
How can you defend yourself in order to survive an attack? — Acromantulas absolutely hate bright lights, especially as they cannot close their eyes. So any charm or spell which produces a bright light for a length of time can, conceivably, get you to safety or even drive the spiders back. Depending on the intensity of the light, it can keep them at bay for up to several feet, or even send them skittering off back into the dark depths from whence they came. Either way, it should enable you to have time to run away.
Now, for homework…I want you to write about the Ban on Experimental Breeding. What was is set into place? What types of creatures have been produced as a result on experimental breeding of magical creatures? What happens if you are caught breaking this law? Which department enforces this ban?
I look forward to seeing you all in class next week.
Professor Jonathon E. Bellehaven 