Poecilotheria metallica 2.5cm

Description

Scientific Name: Poecilotheria metallica

Common Name: Gooty Sapphire Ornamental, Metallic Blue Ornamental, Gooty Tarantula, Peacock Parachute Spider

Type: Arboreal

Category: Old World

Endemic Location: Southeast India

Body Length: 2.5” (6cm)

Diagonal Leg Span (DLS): 8”(20cm)

Urticating Hairs: No

Growth Rate: Fast

Life Expectancy: Females 12 years / Males 4 years

Recommended Experience Level: Advanced

Poecilotheria metallica, known throughout the hobby as the Gooty Sapphire Ornamental, Metallic Blue Tarantula and the Peacock Parachute Spider, is an Old World arboreal tarantula that has an interesting history. This species was initially described by the arachnologist Pocock in 1899 in the town of Gooty in India which is where the common name derives. This T was lost to science and time until it was rediscovered in 2001 in the Kadapah and Chittoor districts of Andhra Pradesh which is far from the original location it was first described over a hundred years earlier. Some theories suggest that the species was accidentally transported to the original location where Pocock found it by the spider stowing away on a train or being mistakenly transported from its endemic location to Gooty because the spider hid away in boxes or some other kind of container as that species was not found in that location again. In fact this species is mostly believed to be restricted to the 100 sq km region that is quickly being destroyed by humans by logging and clearing out land for development and agriculture. Due primarily to the destruction of its habitat due to logging and firewood harvesting, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has classified this species as Critically Endangered. This makes the species illegal to remove from its endemic location and exported from the country.