Ally's Eight-Legged Journey

Just a short post today, to share a better picture of my new Purple Bloom tarantula, or Pamphobeteus sp. machalla. This spider doesn't have a name as yet, because I really want to call it something related to the colour purple, but I am hoping it will be a boy, and all those names sound decidedly feminine. For example, Violet. Or Lavender. A random name generator came up with Shadow, Cobweb or Webster. Well, I already have a Webster, and Cobweb was the name of my friends' little white cat. So I need some new ideas... I'm sure something will hit me. So, here is his ass, in all its naked glory. Seriously. This spider has a bald patch on its ass. A New World tarantula like this one will kick it's abdomen when it feels threatened or stressed to send a flurry of 'urticating' hairs into the air. These hairs are an irritant, both to skin and when inhaled. The result of this to the tarantula is that the hair on its abdomen disappears, leaving bald patches. ...