Giant tarantula discovered in Sri Lanka

Fast, Venomous, Face-Sized Tiger Spider Found in Sri Lanka

Smithsonian reports that Poecilotheria rajaei, a new species of Tiger Spider, has been found in Sri Lanka. The large spider has a leg span of eight inches. It is also poisonous and very fast. The discovery was reported in the British Tarantula Society journal. You can read the article here.

Source: Fast, Venomous, Face-Sized Tiger Spider Found in Sri Lanka

New species of giant tarantulas with leg span of eight inches discovered in northern Sri Lanka - NY Daily News

"It can be quite attractive, unless spiders freak you out," British Tarantula Society journal editor Peter Kirk said.
Nanayakkara, a co-author of the study, named the new spider "Poecilotheria rajaei" in honor of a police officer who helped the research team wade through war-torn northern Sri Lanka.

[...]

"The first specimen of this new species, which was brought to the attention of the authors, was a dead specimen of a male which had been killed by local villagers," the study reads. "Upon close inspection it was noticed that it did not conform to the descriptions of any of the species of Poecilotheria so far described from the island."
The Pokies are only found in India and Sri Lanka. They are colorful spiders, but not the largest — some tarantulas can be 12 inches in diameter.

Source: New species of giant tarantulas with leg span of eight inches discovered in northern Sri Lanka - NY Daily News

This Giant New Tarantula Has an Eight-Inch Leg Span | Smart News

Scientists first encountered the new tarantula in 2009, when villagers in northern Sri Lanka gave them the corpse of one that they had killed. From there, the scientists went on a quest to find more, routing around in tree holes and bark peel with a foot-wide hand net. (Some scientists are tough as nails.) We’re not advocating for any harm to come to these little (gigantic) spiders, but we can certainly all admit that some creatures are just a little more nightmare-inducing than others.
The new spider was just described in the British Tarantula Society Journal. Wired:

Covered in beautiful, ornate markings, the spiders belong to the genus Poecilotheria, known as “Pokies” for short. These are the tiger spiders, an arboreal group indigenous to India and Sri Lanka that are known for being colourful, fast, and venomous.

Source: This Giant New Tarantula Has an Eight-Inch Leg Span | Smart News

Related

World's Largest Web-Spinning Spider

clipped from www.heute.at clipped from www.youtube.com 'Giant' orb web spider discovered clipped from news.nationalgeographic.com Largest Web-Spinning Spider Found Meet the newest odd couple of the animal kingdom: the giant female and tiny male of the largest web-spinning spider known to science: Nephila komaci. The female of the species has a leg span of up to 5 inches (12 centimeters), while the male—which spends much of its time clambering on its partner's back—barely reaches an inch (2.5 centimeters), a new study says. clipped from news.nationalgeographic.com clipped from en.wikipedia.org Nephila komaci Nephila komaci is a member of the golden orb-web spider group and is the largest web-spinning spider known.[1] Few specimens have been found in South Africa and Madagascar. N. komaci females are the largest Nephila yet discovered. Its tip-to-tip leg span is about 12 centimetres, and spins a web that is equally impressive in size, measuring more than a metre in diameter. (http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/091020/science/science_giant_spider) clipped from www.plosone.org Discovery of the Largest Orbweaving Spider Species: The Evolution of Gigantism in Nephila clipped from www.plosone.org

Sources:

1. Madagaskar-Spinne webt metergroße Netze - Heute.at - Kurioses
2. YouTube - 'Giant' orb web spider discovered
3. Largest Web-Spinning Spider Found
4. Photo: Largest Web-Spinning Spider Found
5. Nephila komaci - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
6. PLoS ONE: Discovery of the Largest Orbweaving Spider Species: The Evolution of Gigantism in Nephila
7. PLoS ONE : accelerating the publication of peer-reviewed science

Related:

1. BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | 'Giant' orb web spider discovered
2. Arachnophobics beware: Researchers identify giant new spider species - Yahoo! Canada News
3. Scientists Discover Largest Orb-weaving Spider
4. Scientists discover largest orb-weaving spider
5. Largest web-spinning spider on record found in South Africa - Times Online
6. Nephilidae.com, a web resource for nephilid spiders, by Matjaz Kuntner

Super-Strong Metallic Spider Silk

Clipped from: Scientists make super-strong metallic spider silk | Reuters

Scientists make super-strong metallic spider silk

LONDON (Reuters) - Spider silk is already tougher and lighter than steel, and now scientists have made it three times stronger by adding small amounts of metal.

The technique may be useful for manufacturing super-tough textiles and high-tech medical materials, including artificial bones and tendons.

"It could make very strong thread for surgical operations," researcher Seung-Mo Lee of the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics in Halle, Germany, said in a telephone interview.

Clipped from: German Scientists Spin Stretchier and Stronger Spider Silk

Many insects and other creatures incorporate small amounts of metals such as zinc, manganese, calcium or copper into body parts like jaws, claws and stingers to make them stiffer and harder. The scientists drew on a technique called 'atomic layer deposition' (ALD) to get zinc, titanium and aluminium ions into the spider silk.

Normally ALD just leaves a layer of metal oxides on the surface of the treated fibre; treating spider silk in this way therefore had little impact on its strength. However, by adapting the technique slightly, the researchers were able to get the metal ions to infiltrate the spider silk and become part of the thread.

Clipped from: Max Planck Society - Press Release

Power thrust for spider silk

A team of scientists from Halle has succeeded in making spider silk significantly more break-resistant and ductile through the addition of metals

Fig.: Endurance test for spider silk: in many ways, spider silk - here the picture of a garden cross spider in its web- is stronger than a metal wire of the same thickness. After researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Microstructure Physics infiltrated spider silk with metal ions, a double-strand of silk can support the weight of a cube of 27.5 grams, three times more than an untreated strand.

Despite its dramatically improved properties, metal-infiltrated spider silk is unlikely to be used to reinforce either fenders or aircraft wings in the future. "It would probably be more or less impossible to obtain large volumes of natural spider silk," says Knez. The insects are very difficult to keep and are not particularly productive when it comes to spinning their silk. Nonetheless, Knez is convinced of the practical use of this power thrust for materials: "We are pretty certain that we will also be able to improve the properties of synthetic materials that imitate natural ones using our process."

Clipped from: Greatly Increased Toughness of Infiltrated Spider Silk -- Lee et al. 324 (5926): 488 -- Science

Reports

Greatly Increased Toughness of Infiltrated Spider Silk

Seung-Mo Lee,^1,* Eckhard Pippel,¹ Ulrich Gösele,¹ Christian Dresbach,² Yong Qin,¹ C. Vinod Chandran,³ Thomas Bräuniger,³ Gerd Hause,⁴ Mato Knez^1,*


Sources:

1. Scientists make super-strong metallic spider silk | Reuters
2. German Scientists Spin Stretchier and Stronger Spider Silk
3. Max Planck Society - Press Release
4. Greatly Increased Toughness of Infiltrated Spider Silk -- Lee et al. 324 (5926): 488 -- Science

Related:

1. Scientists mix in metal to make super-strength spider silk - Ars Technica
2. Power thrust for spider silk
3. Metal Injections Make A Spider Silk that Spiderman Would Envy | 80beats | Discover Magazine
4. Technology Review: Blogs: TR Editors' blog: Silk That's Tougher Than Spidey's