An adult male Aphonopelma johnnycashi, one of 14 newly discovered species of tarantula found in the U.S. The males' jet-black appearance recalls the country musician Johnny Cash, who famously preferred to dress in black.
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 ...
An adult male Aphonopelma johnnycashi, one of 14 newly discovered species of tarantula found in the U.S. The males' jet-black appearance recalls the country musician Johnny Cash, who famously preferred to dress in black.
Creepy-crawly ping!
are you kidding me?
i didn’t know there were going to be pictures.
I feel faint.
Yes, I’m a man. From NYC.
only got knocked down once when i boxed, but i am dizzy now and need a Tylenol before i fall again.
Don’t like spiders, not one little bit.
Johnny gives his opinion of spiders....
Oh, you like spider pics?
How's this one? This is the new John Lennon tarantula:
That one’s named Sue.
that’s disgusting man.
eight legged freak!!
with eight eyes!!!! and hairy legs!!! and a pouch!!!
Good Lord!!!
If it bites your ****
It’s a burning ring of fire
It will make you hurt.
One Fall day a Tarantula was walking in my yard, and I let him(?) be, expecting to see him occasionally, later.
A few days later I remembered him, and the black widow in the garden shed, and looked into the shed.
Tarantula, with a walking leg-span of about 2 1/2 inches was wrapped up in the widow’s web.
Sad.
"When animals go bad, that's enough trouble; but when mutant military animals go bad, that's really special!"—Sci Fi Channel trailer.
a johnny cash tarantula- how cool ping
Now THAT is one funny trailer!!
I gotta find and watch that movie!
Try having a tarantula in your daughters room.
I shoulda bug bombed the hairy bass turd.
just. no. i couldn’t.
I dont know what happened though through the years.
there were times when i would punch spiders dead on the wall.
now i can’t be near them. i’m getting old
A daughter. That’s nice :)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.