A tarantula was James Bond's [Sean Connery] unwelcome bedside companion in one of the most memorable scenes in the first James Bond film Dr. No, 1962. In the final production, a live spider was used on top of a sheet of glass and on a stuntman's arm. It is thought however that this prop tarantula would probably have been used by the camera crew as a 'stand-in' for the live version, in the preparation of camera angles etc. It also appears to match up to a publicity still of Connery with the spider (see illustration).

In the film version of Fleming's novel, the spider replaced a centipede. It is thought that this substitution was made as a tarantula is generally more widely recognised, and the producers may also have felt that the majority of audiences would not realize that the bite of a tropical centipede is lethal.