{"id":41633,"date":"2024-09-05T13:53:23","date_gmt":"2024-09-05T11:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/804c38b0-6ab2-4688-9acd-989528f4fa71"},"modified":"2024-09-05T14:27:29","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T12:27:29","slug":"this-metallic-blue-tarantula-is-the-most-beautiful-spider-in-the-world-and-its-also-one-of-the-worlds-rarest","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/this-metallic-blue-tarantula-is-the-most-beautiful-spider-in-the-world-and-its-also-one-of-the-worlds-rarest\/","title":{"rendered":"This metallic blue tarantula is the most beautiful spider in the world \u2013 and it’s also one of the world’s rarest"},"content":{"rendered":"

If ever proof were needed that spiders can be beautiful, then this is surely it. Meet the Gooty tarantula <\/p>

By <\/p>

Published: Thursday, 05 September 2024 at 11:53 AM<\/p>

\n\n

The pelages of many tarantulas<\/a> sparkle iridescent blue when viewed in the right light, but none come close to this beauty. <\/strong><\/p>

The Gooty tarantula Poecilotheria metallica<\/em>, also known as the metallic blue tarantula<\/strong>, is a strikingly beautiful species of arboreal tarantula. It is well known for its vibrant metallic blue coloration, which makes it one of the most visually striking tarantulas in the world.<\/p>

Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>
It is named after the town in Andhra Pradesh, India, from where the first specimen was described in 1899. It has not been seen there since, though, and may have been transported to the area by train. In fact it was not seen again anywhere until 2001. <\/p>
The species is known only from patches of old-growth forest in a single reserve, which the IUCN describes as \u201ccompletely degraded\u201d. No wonder it is Critically Endangered.<\/p>
The biggest spiders in the world: meet huge arachnids as big as dinner plates<\/a><\/p>
Tarantula discovered in Arizona’s ‘Sky Islands’ already at risk of extinction, say scientists<\/a><\/p>
World’s most venomous spiders<\/a><\/p>
Weirdest spiders on the planet<\/a><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If ever proof were needed that spiders can be beautiful, then this is surely it. Meet the Gooty tarantula <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":41634,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"< 1"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/09\/this-metallic-blue-tarantula-is-the-most-beautiful-spider-in-the-world-and-its-also-one-of-the-worlds-rarest.jpg",1600,1128,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/09\/this-metallic-blue-tarantula-is-the-most-beautiful-spider-in-the-world-and-its-also-one-of-the-worlds-rarest-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/09\/this-metallic-blue-tarantula-is-the-most-beautiful-spider-in-the-world-and-its-also-one-of-the-worlds-rarest-300x212.jpg",300,212,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/09\/this-metallic-blue-tarantula-is-the-most-beautiful-spider-in-the-world-and-its-also-one-of-the-worlds-rarest-768x541.jpg",768,541,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/09\/this-metallic-blue-tarantula-is-the-most-beautiful-spider-in-the-world-and-its-also-one-of-the-worlds-rarest-1024x722.jpg",800,564,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/09\/this-metallic-blue-tarantula-is-the-most-beautiful-spider-in-the-world-and-its-also-one-of-the-worlds-rarest-1536x1083.jpg",1536,1083,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/09\/this-metallic-blue-tarantula-is-the-most-beautiful-spider-in-the-world-and-its-also-one-of-the-worlds-rarest.jpg",1600,1128,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"If ever proof were needed that spiders can be beautiful, then this is surely it. Meet the Gooty tarantula","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/41633"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}