It’s always amazing when we see something that we had never seen before, particularly if it is beautiful and just a little horrifying at the same time.
I’m sure that most people would agree with me when they see the poecilotheria metallica, a spider that is usually known as a peacock tarantula.
It doesn’t matter if you have a fear of spiders or not, you will want to at least take a passing glance at the beauty of this arachnoid.
It isn’t just the thick legs or the patterns on the spider’s back, it’s the fact that it is covered with bright blue hair, which certainly makes this one of the more interesting spiders we have ever seen.
For those of you with arachnophobia, you will be happy to know that this spider may be venomous but there has never been a case where somebody has died as a result of the bite of a peacock tarantula. That doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t bite a human that got too close, but even then it would not probably inject any venom. The peacock tarantula prefers to give a dry bite.
Then again, if it manages to sink its three-quarter-inch fangs into your skin and inject some venom, you can expect some serious headaches for about a week along with swelling, cramps, and stinging.
For the most part, those effects will go away as a week passes but in some cases, they could linger for a month or so.
If you wanted to see a peacock tarantula in the wild, you would have to head to southern India. You also would have to look closely, because this critically endangered species is close to going extinct.
Science reports that deforestation is a serious problem for this arachnoid. If they manage to get too close to a human, they are probably killed. Then again, they only tend to get close to humans when the tree that they live in are cut down and they go into houses for shelter.
Another reason why the poecilotheria metallica is endangered is because of the illegal pet market. Since they are so unusual, they are sometimes captured and sold as pets. If you were thinking about buying one, you might want to think twice because it is illegal and because they can bite you.Whizzco