A recent species of eight-eyed tarantula with the attitude of “Devil” and a “cryptic” 3-foot snake that lurks in swamps have recently been discovered — and so they are the stuff of nightmares.
Scientists discovered the freakish hairy spider within the mountains of central and western Ecuador while trying to find recent species of tree spiders in 2021, based on a study published this week in ZooKey.
Officially named Psalmopoeus satanas, or Devil tarantula, for its notably “bad temperament,” the spider was situated under a bamboo tree but refused to be taken captive with out a fight.
The arachnid unsuccessfully attempted to fend off the researchers and tried to flee with “quick sporadic movements, nearly too fast to see,” based on the study.
Once they brought the critter back to the lab, scientists discovered unique physical features and determined it was a complete recent species altogether.
The dark-brown Devil tarantula is just below 2 inches in length with eight eyes and eight legs coated with “golden” hairs, based on the study.
Scientists at Universidad San Francisco de Quito “grew very fond” of the specimen while they studied it despite its “bad temperament and sporadic attacks.”
“Psalmopoeus satanas is appropriately named since the initial person that was collected had an attitude!” the study’s lead co-author Pedro Peñaherrera-R. told McClatchy News via email.
Species of the Psalmopoeus genus are venomous.
The study said that the spider species must be considered “critically endangered” resulting from the threats its ecosystem currently faces, equivalent to illegal mining and agriculture industries. It lives within the Andes mountains between 2,800 feet and about 3,100 feet, researchers said.
Half a world away within the mangrove swamps of central Myanmar, a recent snake was also recently discovered slithering within the darkness.
The green snakes were first misidentified as a known species of pit vipers in 2000, nevertheless, a later DNA evaluation of the “cryptic” creatures revealed that the animals belonged to a “distinct species,” based on one other study published this week in ZooKey.
Researchers studied 19 specimens and determined that the snake was its own unique species: Trimeresurus ayeyarwadyensis, or the Ayeyarwady pit viper — named for a neighborhood river.
Ayeyarwady pit vipers can grow greater than 3 feet long. They’re light green in color on their backs and white on their bellies with eyes that change “from deep red to golden,” researchers said.
Like all vipers, they’re venomous.
