Poecilotheria metallica, known throughout the hobby as the Gooty Sapphire Ornamental, Metallic Blue Tarantula and the Peacock Parachute Spider, is an Old World arboreal tarantula that has an interesting history. This species was initially described by the arachnologist Pocock in 1899 in the town of Gooty in India which is where the common name derives. This T was lost to science and time until it was rediscovered in 2001 in the Kadapah and Chittoor districts of Andhra Pradesh which is far from the original location it was first described over a hundred years earlier. Some theories suggest that the species was accidentally transported to the original location where Pocock found it by the spider stowing away on a train or being mistakenly transported from its endemic location to Gooty because the spider hid away in boxes or some other kind of container as that species was not found in that location again.

In fact this species is mostly believed to be restricted to the 100 sq km region that is quickly being destroyed by humans by logging and clearling out land for development and agriculture. Due primarily to the destruction of its habitat from to logging and firewood harvesting, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has classifed this species as Critically Endangered. This makes the species illegal to remove from its endemic location and exported from the country. Luckily though it is not an included species on the most recent CITES list of species of poecilotheria that are not allowed to be imported into the US or sold across state lines. This means that we are able to breed this species, at least at the time of this video, and keep the species alive and thriving in the hobby. Due to the bright blue coloration and unqiue pattern of this tarantula, it is highly sought after by hobbyists which encourages many breeders to continue to keep and breed this species.

When this T was originally intoduced into the hobby years ago, slings were selling for as much as $500-$600 but as more people have bred them successfully, especially in Europe and the US, there are many more available and the price has dropped dramatically as you can know purchase a 1” sling for around $75. This is a fast growing tarantula and females can reach a size of about 6” and live around 12 years while male are a little smaller and only live around 4 years. Being an Old World tarantula, this species does not have urticating hairs but is very fast and has a powerful venom that causes moderate to severe pain and long lasting local and generalized muscle cramps, accelerated heart rate, sweating, nausea and headache. Of all the Poecilotheria, this species seems to be the least defensive, and though they are not as prone to show a threat pose and strike as some other species (like the Ornata for example) they do tend to run around their enclosure like crazy when startled or disturbed. This tarantula is very photosensitve and does not like bright lights and will retreat into its hide almost every time you turn the lights on making it very difficult to photograph or record video.





Watch the Tarantula Tuesday episode on this species here: