[Animals] This new species of tarantula is electric blue

[FNX Magokiler]

You only have to look at the sky and the sea to think that nature seems to favor blue, just like us humans. But this is not the case: the reality is that this color is rare in nature, especially in "a blue-violet hue similar to the color of electric sparks," which is how a team of researchers has described a new species of tarantula. from southern Thailand.

The spider, which can measure almost 12 centimeters, sports iridescent neon-colored veins on its legs, back and mouthparts. The specimen, called Chilobrachys natanicharum, was already known in the pet trade as the electric blue tarantula, but a recent study published in the journal Zookeys has finally confirmed that it is a unique species.

According to Sarah J. Kariko, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard University (United States), of the 900 known species of tarantulas, only 4% have blue coloration.

Although pigments form other colors in animals, such as red and yellow, the process is different with blue. When light hits them, the cells' nanostructures reflect a blue color to our eyes, explains Kariko, who was not involved in the new study.

These structural colors often create iridescence, says Ling Li, an associate professor at Virginia Tech in the United States who collaborates with Kariko on the study of spider colors.

 

 

"It's like a peacock feather. If you change the angle, the color will change a little," while colors made with pigment don't change with viewing angle.

A rare forest find
The tarantula is also the first to be discovered in a mangrove forest in Thailand, Narin Chomphuphuang, director of the study and a phytopathologist at Khon Kaen University in Thailand, explains by email.

For the study, Chomphuhuang and his colleagues made an expedition to the mangroves of Phang-Nga province, searching at night among the wet, muddy vegetation for the tarantula's telltale sign: the cobwebs covering its burrow.

In this case, the team discovered a blue tarantula in the hollow of a tree, which they had to climb to attract the animal. Another expedition revealed that the spider lived in evergreen trees, a separate ecosystem.

"We were amazed to discover that they can also thrive in highland evergreen forests. The incredible adaptation of this spider is fascinating."

 

https://www.nationalgeographic.es/animales/2023/09/nueva-especie-tarantula-color-azul-electrico-tailandia