T colours

[jason holland]

ok... so i was thinking earlier about tarnatula colourations.

so theres blacks... browns, greys.. yeah i can understand those colours....
oranges, yellows, golds, blondes (could understand those etc)
and then blue, metalic blue, metalic grey, reds, pinks, purples!! theres loads... and why some are that colour is beyond me... (obviously its "beware im nasty" colours etc... but who would want to live in a tree and be bright blue!!! lol

so i was thinking.... living up high... possibly in trees etc...
is there a green tarantula?

(and i wouldnt really count green bottle blue as green... its more blue..im talking about green... green green)

[Andrew Ferguson]

The little green ones are only on Mars!!

[mary walters]

Thrixopelma pruriens is green, not bright green but green and terrestrial. Encyryotella olivacia is a sort of greeny colour too, and terrestrial again.

[Craig Mackay]

Its something that has intrigued me for some time. You would think such secretive animals wouldn't want to stand out from the crowd. Poecilotheria metallica for example surely must stick out like a sore thumb on a tree!

[Ray Hale]

The Indian Ornamentals have what is know as Disruptive Colouration.
Imagine the army tanks and how they are painted for desert conditions. Up close they are obvious but from above a plane is unable to focus on a specific area and thus unable to lock on. The same applies to some spiders. An indian ornamental is a stunning spider and we peceive it as such up close but a predator from above would struggle to see it. Also the canopy is a million different shades of green, brown, black, orange etc so in reality the spider is the ideal colour.
There are green spiders although many tend to be small jumping types..

Ray Hale

[James Box]

we've got at least one native green spider, believe it's Sparissidae, if i spelled that right. can't remember the exact species name.

also, i'd argue that Psalmopoeus cambridgei is green! in natural light, a mature female has lovely moss green setae all over. one of the reasons i love this species so much.

i've also recently obtained an Aphonopelma sp with irridescent green on its femurs, and slightly green-brown colouring on the chelicerae. not green all over, and the irridescent isn't as vivid as say H lividum, but worth mentioning!

it is funny you mention it, though...green tarantulas aren't as common as you'd think, and one of the reasons i keep trying to find green or greenish ones.

thanks for the explanation about P metallica, Ray i was curious about that.

[Nicola Dolby]

What about Holothele incei or Poecilotheria rufilata?