The oldest longed-for spider dies

in #biologia7 years ago

To the holder of the world record, a 28-year-old tarantula found in Mexico that died at the age of 28, has almost doubled another new spider that has died at 43, thus being the longest that has ever been recorded.

According to the research, published in Pacific Conservation Biology, the matriarch trapper of Giaus Villosus died recently during a long-term population study.

Giaus Villosus

According to the main author, the student Leanda Mason, of the Faculty of Molecular Sciences and Life of the University of Curtin:

As far as we know, this is the oldest spider ever recorded, and its important life has allowed us to investigate more thoroughly the behavior of the species and the dynamics of the population.

The research project was initiated by Barbara York Main in 1974, which monitored the long-term spider population for more than 42 years in the central region of Wheatbelt in Western Australia.

It should be remembered that Australia is a particularly interesting place if we talk about spiders. Many of the most lethal spiders in the world live here. For example, white-tailed spiders, which are recorded hundreds of bites a year and about a dozen deaths.