See the New 'Enchanting' Electric Blue Tarantula Discovered in Thailand

Blue is one of the rarest colors in nature, but this arachnid achieves the bright hue through special structures in its hair

Margaret Osborne
Daily Correspondent
October 6, 2023



Chilobrachys natanicharum, the electric blue tarantula Narin Chomphuphuang

Researchers have discovered a new species of tarantula with a rare and “enchanting” coloration: Parts of its back, legs and mouthparts are an iridescent, electric blue-violet.

The spider, named Chilobrachys natanicharum, is the only tarantula ever found in a Thai mangrove forest. The team described the arachnid in a paper published last month in the journal ZooKeys.

Chomphuphuang, a researcher at Khon Kaen University in Thailand, says in a statement. “These tarantulas inhabit hollow trees, and the difficulty of catching an electric-blue tarantula lies in the need to climb a tree and lure it out of a complex of hollows amid humid and slippery conditions.”

In addition to its coloration, C. natanicharum stands out among tarantulas because of its ability to live in both arboreal and terrestrial burrows in evergreen forests. The new research discovered the electric blue creatures live in mangroves, too, where they mostly stick to tree hollows because of the tides, per the statement.

More:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/see-the-new-enchanting-electric-blue-tarantula-discovered-in-thailand-180983022/

(Hope it's waving "goodbye" just a little bit)