Jan 22, 2007

Amazon Crawling

Here is a tarantula from the Amazon jungle near Manaus, Brazil, sent in by Steve via Switzerland. Once again, someone shows themselves as having far more courage than I possess. There are very few things that could compel me to pick up a wild Amazonian tarantula (at night!), and none of those reasons exist in the jungle (they exist only in the blessedly hypothetical).

Neither Steve nor I possess the knowledge needed to identify this spider's exact species. Anyone care to take a stab at it? Not literally, figuratively.
















He also sent me this photo of a web he came across. I hope the spider got the proper permits for that sucker. I've heard Brazilian building inspectors are very particular.

Thanks for the photos, Steve.

5 comments:

The Olson's said...

I love your site

Anonymous said...

Holay crepe! That spider is the stuff of nightmares.

Anonymous said...

It looks like a type of pinktoe tarantula (Avicularia sp.). They're actually very docile, and fairly cute. They prance like balarinas when they walk.

My wife and I just had around 200 of them hatched at our house last month.

Gretchen said...

Jade - please take pictures of THAT!

Annie said...

This looks like a juvenile Avicularia-or 'bird eating' spider.
They annoint their bodies, so as they crawl up your arm the feet feel like little cats paws, but their footprints leave welts.