The cobalt blue tarantula is an Old World species as it originated in Asia. The Old World refers to regions and ecosystems outside of the Americas. The terms Old World and New World refer to the origins of a particular species. The blue cobalt tarantula is referred to as an Old World species. The scientific name for cobalt blue tarantula is Cyriopagopus lividus, but it was formerly known as Haplopelma lividum. So, let us dive in and explore the world of the cobalt blue tarantula. ![]() Whether you are just curious about these unique arachnids or looking to make one your pet, it helps to educate yourself. ![]() This article will take you through some interesting facts about cobalt blue tarantula. But you must understand their temperament, mating habits, diet, and other qualities before adopting one. These giant spiders are popular pet choices. Hsiung says that while some male and female tarantulas do differ in color, the placement of the blue hue-and the fact that it’s not always present in adults of reproductive age-isn’t always what you’d expect for a trait that helps spiders make more spiders.Īnd so, as this week of giving thanks wraps up, we’d like to take a moment and offer a word of gratitude for whatever it is that makes tarantulas blue.Do exotic animals fascinate you? Are you considering bringing a cobalt blue tarantula home? Perhaps, he says, mate preferences drove the development of colors early on, and the colors no longer offer the spiders any particular advantages. Hsiung suspects the color is some kind of signal, but it’s not clear who it’s for or whether the message is “come here” or “don’t eat me.”īut Vinod Saranathan, who studies the physics and evolution of structural colors at Yale-NUS College in Singapore, isn’t quite ready to accept that sexual selection hasn’t played a role in creating these blue-hued beauties, noting that in some tarantula species, males and females are colored differently. Just what that force is, though, is still a mystery. Instead, these new observations suggest some other evolutionary force is at work, Hsiung says. ![]() That means it’s unlikely the blue hue evolved because spiders prefer an eight-legged lover colored like the sea. That’s why scientists suspect sexual selection-or choosing mates based on courtship displays and other physical factors-is primarily responsible for flashy, structure-based colors.īut, Hsiung and his colleagues argue, that hypothesis falls apart when one considers the lowly tarantula-a creature that, despite having eight eyes, can’t see very well (birds and butterflies, on the other hand, are known to have excellent eyesight). It’s a system that’s easy to tweak, and can rapidly evolve. These light-reflecting arrays are also responsible for the shimmering colors of beetles, butterfly wings, and bird feathers the colors they reflect depend on the alignment and spacing between individual crystals. In some tarantulas, that wavelength happens to be the same shade of blue. The crystalline array acts like a mirror that reflects only a particular wavelength of incoming light. Unlike the pigments that make plant leaves green and flamingos pink, a tarantula’s blue color comes from precisely arranged nanocrystals. “We just don’t know what that function is yet.” “The blue color definitely has a major function, and it’s very specific why they need this color,” Hsiung says. In other words, scientists suspect there’s a good reason the spiders are blue. What’s more, by taking a close look at blue hairs from eight different tarantulas, the team found that the spiders don't all create the blue color in the same way, meaning the color isn’t simply hitching a ride with a different trait that offers the spiders an advantage. In fact, as Hsiung and his colleagues reported today in Science Advances, blue coloration probably evolved independently at least eight times in tarantulas, which are among the most ancient of spiders. Poecilotheria metallica, a critically endangered species, is covered in an intricate geometric blue pattern the burrow-building cobalt blue tarantula ( Haplopelma lividum) is a slightly lighter hue, while the Singapore blue ( Lampropelma violaceopes)-a large, aggressive tree-dweller-has eight dark blue legs arrayed around a golden body. Many tarantulas are quite colorful, and it’s not uncommon for the spiders to wear blue. “We didn’t find the answer to that question,” says the University of Akron’s Bor-Kai Hsiung, spoiling the punchline. Recently, a team of researchers set out to solve one of nature’s little mysteries and determine why, exactly, some tarantulas are such a vibrant hue. ![]() Some are stunningly beautiful-and bright blue. Others defend themselves by launching streams of excrement. Some tarantulas are bigger than your face.
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