Posted on 02/04/2016 8:56:25 PM PST by dayglored
A challenging, years-long survey has uncovered 14 new species of U.S. tarantula, including one named after Johnny Cash.
Some, like Aphonopelma madera, live on forested "sky islands," mountains surrounded on all sides by Arizona's deserts. Others, like the tiny Aphonopelma atomicum, nestle themselves in silk-lined burrows near Nevada's nuclear test sites.
And Aphonopelma johnnycashi, named for the legendary country musician, makes its home near Folsom Prison, California.
True to form, adult males are mostly black, a getup of which Cash--the Man in Black--would have no doubt been proud. (Also see "New Tarantula (Not Beetle) Named After John Lennon.")
To uncover the new species, a three-person team led by the Florida Museum of Natural History's Chris Hamilton spent more than a decade on the hunt, logging thousands of miles of travel across the United States, hundreds of hours of laboratory analysis, and fieldwork on remote mountains and in scorching deserts.
"For such a popular organism in our culture, whether it's Hollywood movies or B movies, there's not really much work that's been done on tarantulas," says Hamilton. "Past arachnologists would get really frustrated and give up."
"It's a massive, massive amount of work, but that's what it takes," he says. "There's no easy way around it."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalgeographic.com ...
lol! How long before she would go back in the room?
It was her pet!
a spider named sue Ping
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Honey there is a spider in your bathroom the size of a Buick
Arachnid friends.
I’ve been killing spiders since I was 30.
Great movie :)
of course he uses National Review.
We break up for two weeks and you’re dating a Right Wing Rock and Roll Star
OMG spit coffee all over the place! Good morning!!
Screw this crap, I'm outta here.........fast!
10+ years' worth of paychecks for jaunting around the country. Nice work if you can get it.
Some of the comments say that it is on Netflix.
lol! i was
ROFL!! Ah, that’s different! My niece absolutely dreads spiders, as do my sisters, so I assumed the same about your girl.
Aw! So cute!
you’re a sick pup if you think that’s cute!!
the devil’s spawn!!!
alright, maybe i’m overreacting a little bit.
i work overnights, and while asleep before, i heard, for two hours i think, my wife screaming about a bug and running from room to room begging the cat to get her.
Thank goodness for NyQuil.
Johnny Cash & One Bad Pig - Man In Black
It also brought a smile remembering my encounters with the Haitian Brown Tarantulas. These things were HUGE but apparently harmless to humans as the MK's (boys, never the girls) would keep them in a shoebox as pets.
You haven't lived until you are investigating why your usually docile dog is barking furiously @ 2AM when you realize you are intersecting one of these "beauties" in your house. Oh, and they can jump several feet in the air when threatened. I can smile now...
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