Poecilotheria metallica Pocock, 1899
Peacock tarantula, Peacock parachute spider, Metallic tarantula, Gooty tarantula, Gooty sapphire ornamental tree spider, Gooty sapphire, Salepurgu
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Conservation Status
Last record: c.1899
Rediscovered in 2001
IUCN RedList status: Critically Endangered
This species is very popular in the hobby, even prized, and commands a large premium over other tarantula species (called T's for short). Although officially rediscovered in 2001 (Molur et al., 2008), there is some talk of this species having been in captivity since the early-to-mid 1990's.
Distribution
Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve, Andhra Pradesh, India
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Pocock, R. I. (1899a). Diagnoses of some new Indian arachnida. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 12: 744-753.
Other references:
Guptha, M. Bubesh et al. (2013). Occurrence of Poecilotheria metallica Pocock, 1899 from Seshachalam Hills, Eastern Ghats, Andhra Pradesh, India. Universal Journal of Environmental Research and Technology 3(1): 132-135.
Guptha, M. Bubesh et al. (2014). Rediscovery of the Critically Endangered Tarantula Poecilotheria metallica Pocock, 1899 from Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve, Eastern Ghats, Andhra Pradesh, India. World Journal of Zoology 9(4): 235-238.
Molur, S., Daniel, B.A. & Siliwal, M. (2008). Poecilotheria metallica. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. (http://www.iucnredlist.org). Downloaded on 03 December 2014.
Molur, S., Daniel, B.A. and Siliwal, M. in press. Distribution and status of Poecilotheria metallica. Zoos’ Print Journal.
Molur, S. and Siliwal, M. (2004). Common names of South Asian theraphosid spiders (Araneae: Theraphosidae). Zoos’ Print Journal 19(10): 1657-1662.
Pocock, R. I. (1899b). The genus Poecilotheria: its habits, history and species. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (7) 3(13): 82-96, pl. 7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00222939908678082
Pocock, R. I. (1900). Great Indian spiders. The genus Poecilotheria: its habits, history and species. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 13: 121-133. [reprint of (Pocock, 1899b)]
Raman, K., S. Vimalraj, B.M. Krishnakumar, N. Balachandran & A. Tomar (2019). Range extension of the Gooty Tarantula Poecilotheria metallica (Araneae: Theraphosidae) in the Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 11(10): 14373-14376.
Vié, J.-C., Hilton-Taylor, C. and Stuart, S.N. (eds.) (2009). Wildlife in a Changing World – An Analysis of the 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. 180 pp.
WILD. (2006). Conservation Status of Tarantulas in India with Implications of Harvest for International Trade. Report submitted to Rufford Small Grant Programme, UK. 63pp.