Creating Tarantula Island: Myth Or Fact?

[EvilTheCat6600]

I'm currently on a randomly generated island where I found a wasp, wharf roach and two centipedes. So I went ahead and followed the steps to make a tarantula spawning island. For about twenty minutes now I've been looking for tarantulas....nothing is spawning on this island except fish now.

Sooooo did I do something wrong? Are only specific islands capable of being made into a tarantula island? Or is "You can create an island that spawns nothing but tarantulas" a hoax, and the only way to get there is for the game to send you to that island?

 

[JackoCFC]

There are youtube videos explaining how to do it. Even IGN have made a video about it.

It does take a while to succeed a full pocket of tarantula's, its longer than beetle island on new leaf but it works

 

[moonchu]

you can 100% create an environment where tarantulas spawn, i do it every night. some islands are more conducive to this than others (ie. i wouldnt do it to islands with 3 tiers etc). i chop all of the trees, dig up the stumps and clear the rocks, pluck the flowers, and dump all of it on the beach. you also have to be sure to clear all of the bugs that show up that aren't tarantulas. it takes longer than if you do it on bamboo island, but it definitely is possible. i also check for big fish and ended up with both a sturgeon and an oarfish with my tarantula haul yesterday takes a while though for sure!

 

[deerprongs]

It works! I’ve done it twice now. Just keep following the steps and make sure you chase away wharf roaches and pick the flowers and dig up stumps so no bugs spawn on them. It can take a while, so be patient!

 

[EvilTheCat6600]

Well it must take over an hour to do. That'd be my guess. It's 7:48 pm EST so if I don't have even one tarantula by 9:48 pm I'm calling it quits. Here's the steps I took: I broke all the rocks, I chopped down all the trees and uprooted them and I got rid of all the flowers, including digging up the flower buds.

There's no way for any insects to spawn in trees, near flowers or under rocks. Which just about every guide says to do. That's why I ask if I did something wrong. Because I followed the instructions.

@deerprongs Funny thing: wharf roaches stopped spawning after I took all the needed steps to create the environment. When I say only fish are spawning I mean only fish are spawning.

 

[MilezX]

I was able to do it twice myself, so I can share what I now at least.

-No other levels of Land aside from the main one: If there's a waterfall/extra layer of land on the island, you're sadly out of luck. You'll have to buy a new ticket and try again.

Clear all flowers and cut all trees/bamboo: if you do manage a flat level of land, you can get started, clear pick all the flowers on the island, this will prevent other bugs from appearing like butterflies. Next cut down every tree and bamboo tree there, as well as digging up the stumps.

Clear the wharf roaches on rocks: At this point, if all the land is practically empty, tarantulas should start to appear now. But to ensure better appearance rates, run up to shore rocks to scare off wharf roaches as there can only be so many bugs at a time.

This is everything I did for tarantula islands so it is possible! However though I said 1 level islands work, a spiral island may not be a good choice to use for this I suggest restarting if you get one of these too. Hope this helps!

 

[sunchild]

i know you're supposed to clear all the resources as well as bugs, but what do you guys do about mole crickets that spawn?

 

[Romaki]

I've done it twice so far. You can easily ignore the bugs in the ground. Get rid of the rock bugs, scare away anything that flies and if you did everything else (remove all trees, stumps, weeds and flowers) then you should get like 3 new bug spawns everytime you get rid of most of them. It can take 2-3 cycles, but if you did everything right and see absolutely no tarantula in like 10 minutes then you have no tarantula spawn on that island. It happened to me as well on my first try.

- - - Post Merge - - -

You can also completely ignore the fish, they have nothing to do with bug spawns.

 

[moonchu]

you actually can do it with 1 waterfall islands / 2 tiered, i oftentimes do. it does take a little longer because bugs can spawn up there, but i just run at the edges and it clears them.

 

[Romaki]

However though I said 1 level islands work, a spiral island may not be a good choice to use for this I suggest restarting if you get one of these too.

I turned a spiral island into a tarantula one, but I filled the entire spiral with holes. It actually worked very well because the area of spawning bugs was super small afterwards, so I didn't have to walk around the island a lot.

 

[EvilTheCat6600]

I was able to do it twice myself, so I can share what I now at least.

-No other levels of Land aside from the main one: If there's a waterfall/extra layer of land on the island, you're sadly out of luck. You'll have to buy a new ticket and try again.

Clear all flowers and cut all trees/bamboo: if you do manage a flat level of land, you can get started, clear pick all the flowers on the island, this will prevent other bugs from appearing like butterflies. Next cut down every tree and bamboo tree there, as well as digging up the stumps.

Clear the wharf roaches on rocks: At this point, if all the land is practically empty, tarantulas should start to appear now. But to ensure better appearance rates, run up to shore rocks to scare off wharf roaches as there can only be so many bugs at a time.

This is everything I did for tarantula islands so it is possible! However though I said 1 level islands work, a spiral island may not be a good choice to use for this I suggest restarting if you get one of these too. Hope this helps!

A YouTuber named TagBackTV said the same thing about spiral islands as well. I might wait until 11 pm since the Wiki claims that it's the peak time for them before I try again.

 

[brockbrock]

How do you deal with the mole crickets? I've tried this on the bamboo island which is flat, but the mole crickets were 80% of all of the bug spawns. I've yet to find the tarantula island layout that people share on your YT videos.

 

[Romaki]

How do you deal with the mole crickets? I've tried this on the bamboo island which is flat, but the mole crickets were 80% of all of the bug spawns. I've yet to find the tarantula island layout that people share on your YT videos.

Do you take care of all rock and beach bugs? I usually get 1-2 tarantulas per spawn if I ignore the mole crickets.

 

[s i r e n t i c]

Tarantula islands are definitely possible, though it’s weird that you weren’t able to get any... is your island in the Southern Hemisphere perhaps? Cause I know the spawn times for tarantula’s are different for the Southern Hemisphere.
Other then that if you do all the steps and it’s from 7pm to 4am you should be able to find some, though it does definitly take some time, especially on bamboo islands

 

[a sprout]

-No other levels of Land aside from the main one: If there's a waterfall/extra layer of land on the island, you're sadly out of luck. You'll have to buy a new ticket and try again.

I was able to make a tarantula island on multiple multilayered islands! it's trickier, especially if the tarantulas spawn on top of the upper layer of land, but they run away from you if you're holding poles and ladders. kinda helps to get up there to get them.
it is worth noting, that if you swap out your tool from ladder/pole to net to catch them and you're too close, you will get jumped by them. I've gotten bitten a few times that way...

 

[brockbrock]

Do you take care of all rock and beach bugs? I usually get 1-2 tarantulas per spawn if I ignore the mole crickets.

Yes, but I've had like 3+ mole crickets at once. It's so loud I can't tell where they're coming from.

I did managed to spawn like... 3 tarantulas, but it was in the span of 20 minutes.

 

[moonchu]

i str8 up ignore mole crickets, i hate them LOL i'll be darned if i have to dig em up every time.

 

[EvilTheCat6600]

Tarantula islands are definitely possible, though it’s weird that you weren’t able to get any... is your island in the Southern Hemisphere perhaps? Cause I know the spawn times for tarantula’s are different for the Southern Hemisphere.
Other then that if you do all the steps and it’s from 7pm to 4am you should be able to find some, though it does definitly take some time, especially on bamboo islands

Northern Hemisphere. I live in North America so I went ahead with the hemisphere I live in. Eastern Time Zone and it's currently after 8 pm. I'm guessing the island wasn't suitable. It WAS a three tiered island, but most of the stuff I've read and watched seemed to suggest any island will do, with IGN taking it a step further and saying "As long as it supports bug life."

Soooo I have no clue why they didn't spawn at all, unless it takes over an hour on the harder islands. I ended up bringing home the resources, selling the flowers, fruit and shells I collected and need to charge my Lite for a bit though, so I'll see if I get a better layout later tonight.

 

[mayortiffany]

It is possible to make tarantula island on multi-levelled islands, I was successful two days ago with a two-layered one. I've seen some YouTubers recommend you fill in the top layer with items or holes so that nothing spawns up top, making it easier for you to navigate.

I did the spiral last night and it worked for me, though the spiral was a bit tough to navigate. Again, you could probably fill in the spiral area so that nothing spawns there. In both island's cases, sometimes I would get back to back spawns, other times it would take a few laps around the island for anything to show up. Make sure you're scaring away tiger beetles and wharf roaches, but I usually don't bother with mole crickets.

 

[EvilTheCat6600]

I got some good news: My second attempt has spawned a tarantula island. Just one problem...I'd like to fill my pockets with tarantulas. I have a fossil and a mole cricket (NOT losing that...intend to donate so it's no longer a problem to catch), a net, an axe, a vaulting pole, a ladder and two tarantulas.

I have 21 flowers stems in my inventory. Do I have to keep them or can I replant them and use those 21 spaces (plus the two free spaces) to put 34 tarantulas in my inventory or will replanting the stems (you can't drop them, I've tried) stop the spawns?