Tag Archives: tarantula

Recently, the Hubble Space Telescope caught this stunning image of the Tarantula nebula, the largest and brightest stellar factory in the Large Magellanic Cloud  —  a dwarf galaxy orbiting our own. What is it? The Tarantula nebula is home to some of the largest known stars, boasting masses up to 200 times that of our sun. The Hubble Space Telescope …

Four new species of tarantula have been discovered – and if they knew the name they were going to get, they might have presented themselves sooner. The males are so well-endowed that scientists essentially named them the ‘genital king.’ Spiders don’t really have penises, in the traditional sense. Instead, they use arm-like structures called palps to grab sperm from ducts …

Scientists have stumbled upon four new species of tarantulas whose males have such outrageously long genitals that they had to invent an entirely new genus to classify them: Satyrex, named after the mythological satyr—half-man, half-goat, all libido—and the Latin word for king, rex. The males of the newfound species boast palps (spider sperm-delivery appendages) that stretch up to four times …

Scientists have had to create an entirely new spider genus after four new tarantula species were found to have such long genitalia that they couldn’t fit into any pre-existing category. The team believe the males have evolved this impressive appendage to keep themselves as far away as possible from aggressive females, which are known to eat their partners during mating. …