Habitat: Ecuador and Brazil
Status: Not Listed

So  here’s my question for you all – is a tarantula still scary as hell if it’s this beautiful? I really don’t know.This purple tarantula has me very confused!

This is the Brazilian Pinkbloom Tarantula (Pamphobeteus platyomma/Vitalius wacketi* ) which grows to a length of 9 cm (but specimens of 11 cm have been recorded). Females are dark brown/black but mature males have this incredible purple/pink hue that makes them highly prized in the arachnid aficionado community.

However, word on the internetz is that they aren’t the most friendly of spiders. They’ll bite without provocation and flick their hairs at you, which can cause skin irritation. I really don’t blame them for being aggressive. If someone wanted to keep me in a tiny cage just because I was pretty to look at I don’t think I’d be that happy either!

Way to go purple tarantula, stand up for yourself!

*there seems to be some confusion about the proper scientific name of this gorgeous spider. It appears that it was changed from Pamphobeteus platyomma to Vitalius wacketi but most of the websites with information on this tarantula are in German… so… if anyone knows more please tell me in the comments! Thanks!