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Comments & ID Thoughts
Lampropelma violaceopes Abraham, 1924, female. Singapore blue tarantula.
- Submitted by:
- Submitted: Dec 19, 2018
- Photographed: Apr 6, 2008
- Spider: Lampropelma violaceopes (Singapore Blue Tarantula)
- Sex:
- Location: Singapore, Singapore
- Spotted Outdoors: High foliage (includes trees and tree trunks),Forest
- Found in web?: Yes
- Attributes: Dorsal
How old do you think she is? Are spider years equivalent to our years? Or do they age more like say in dog years?
It depends on the species. Orbweavers, for instance, only live about 2 years maximum. Female tarantulas can live into their 30s, but the males only live about 4 years.
Some female Western Hemisphere theraphosid (tarantula) spiders can live upwards of 30 years while most female Eastern Hemisphere tarantula spiders live on average between 8-10 years. The spider pictured here is about 4 years old.
very cool! gorgeous find, by the way, the best-looking spider I’ve seen!
How is this coloration possible outside of computer graphics!
Did you capture it? Are you a pro arachnologist?
In your country are these spiders kept as pets?
This is real, not filtered. Rick West is a top world expert (Google him) on Tarantulas. He lives in Canada 🙂 He did his own field research and had a professional taxonomist do the identifications. Mr West has graciously donated copies of some of his photos to our website’s photo gallery. You can view all of the photos he provided to us by clicking his username, then the camera icon.
This species is threatened or endangered because it is poached for the pet trade.
The coloration is real … formed by refracted light from exoskeletal scalation. Metallic blues are common in many tarantula species.
The rest of your questions are not pertinent yo this site.
Google my name and you’ll see my contributions to science and conservation regarding tarantulas.
Mr. RickCWest. Thanks for disuading me to continue my novice inquisitivness. No offensive intention.
So. Only about spiders: looks and location.
Mesmerizing blue metallic. I am afraid to ask any more. Here it goes:
Why blue? With such coloration it would be hard to go unnoticed.
Refracted light? So in the dark what coloration does it have?
Are these pertinent questions or too low level ?
Should I just go to Google ?
You can ready the details of blue reflectance in tarantulas, here – https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284813590_Blue_reflectance_in_tarantulas_is_evolutionarily_conserved_despite_nanostructural_diversity Some of your questions have no answers and specialists can only assume the role that color plays in spiders (tarantulas, included). Tarantulas are crepuscular and nocturnal, so, color plays no role in attracting a mate or warding of potential predators during those activity hours. ‘Best guesses’ can be all over the board.
Mr RickC Very intriguing. Its coloration is still a mystery.
Nature always has its “raison d’etre” …..a very precise one.
With your experience could you say it is otherwise? (If not pertinent question ignore it.)
Thanks for this extra food for thought for the day.