DailyDirt: Tarantulas!
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Tarantulas are huge, hairy, and venomous. Thankfully, these giant spiders look creepier than they are dangerous -- for humans, at least. While they do pack a painful bite, their venom is actually less potent than a bee's. There are hundreds of species of tarantulas that have already been identified. Here are a few more.- A new species of tree-dwelling tarantula that's about the size of an Alien facehugger has been discovered in Sri Lanka. It has a leg span of about 8 inches across, and has unique and colorful leg and abdominal markings. It's a type of tiger spider, which are known for being colorful, fast, and venomous. [url]
- Several colorful new tree-dwelling tarantulas have been discovered in Brazil. Red, pink, orange, yellow, and blue are just some of the colors that can be found on these spiders. Apparently, scientists are actually concerned that people will want these colorful tarantulas as pets. [url]
- An asbestos-covered tarantula might be on the loose in Cardiff, Wales. Workers who were removing asbestos from an abandoned house found a large molted tarantula skin in the attic, which means the spider could be roaming around town somewhere covered in asbestos. While it's not a new species (experts think it's a Chilean rose tarantula), it could actually be up to twice as large as the molted skin, since tarantulas swell in size after shedding their skin... [url]
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Filed Under: asbestos, biology, colorful, species, spiders, tarantulas
Reader Comments
The First Word
“So size of spiders is measured in 'face' now?
I mean wow. Just wow.Subscribe: RSS
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a pink tarantula...?!!?
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Which means this article gave me chills down my spine, cold sweat and stuff like that ;)
Still, interesting to see places I should NOT go to. Oh wait, I live in one of those places.
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So size of spiders is measured in 'face' now?
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Re:
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Cool facts:
-Tarantulas actually have web spigots in their feet, they use them to lay down super fine lines of web as a sort of navigation system.
-Tarantula fangs contain metal as a hardening agent, and the more times a tarantula has molted the more metal there is (this might not be true for ALL species, it's a very recent discovery and there hasn't been a lot of testing on the matter yet).
-Female tarantulas can live up to 30 years, depending on the species. Male tarantulas aren't so lucky - once they reach adulthood, they die hours after their next molt. The shape of a male's pedipalps make them get stuck in the old molt once they reach sexual maturity, and when the tarantula breaks free it usually does so without the pedipalps. Spiders don't have very strong coagulating agents in their internal fluid-goop (technical term), so they basically leak/dry up at this point.
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Re: a pink tarantula...?!!?
Of course, they're also vicious, mean little guys that move so fast they look like they're teleporting and have venom strong enough that I've heard of breeders wearing chainmail gloves when dealing with them. But when it comes to spiders, you kind of need to take the good with the bad. ;)
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Tarantulas Make Awesome pets
Is the Pink Zebra Beauty or otherwise known as the Eupalaestrus Campestratus . They are not quick to bite or "flick hairs" at the aggressor. A Mexican Red Knee Tarantula is also one I recommend mainly because of its longevity and hardy nature. In fact, did you know that females can live up to ages of 30 years old?!? One that comes to mind among these is the Greenbottle blue or also known as the Chromatopelma Cyaneopubescens. Originating from a harsh and dry climate, this colorful species makes it an ideal Tarantula for beginners.
For more tarantulas check out www.tarantulapets.com and check out Tarantula Facts for interesting facts.
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