COCHISE COUNTY, Ariz. — From rattlesnakes to Gila monsters, scorpions to Sonoran toads and many more, Arizona is known for the many critters that call the state home.
Now, there is one more to know about as scientists have announced the discovery of a new species of tarantula and it lives in Arizona.
The spider, named Aphonopelma jacobii was first seen in 2018 in the Chiricahua Mountains in Cochise County, but testing to confirm that this is indeed a new species of tarantula led to the announcement of the new species not coming until six years later.
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: Descubren una nueva especie de tarántula en Arizona y los científicos están preocupados por su futuro
The spider was found by a team from the University of Idaho.
The announcement was made in the ZooKeys scientific journal.
The new tarantula has a mostly black body with a bright orange or red abdomen and is more active in fall for breeding season.
The scientists who found the spider say it can be found in Cave Creek Canyon, high-elevation areas near Onion Saddle and Barfoot Park. They say it is the only tarantula in the Chiricahua Mountains to be found in high-elevation areas. Scientists say the highest elevation they were able to find the spider at was 2,500 meters (about 8,200 feet), but they add that there have been reports of the spider from as high as 2,700 meters (about 8,858 feet).
The spider lives in burrows near meadows and other open patches of soil.
Scientists say they are not sure how many of the new tarantulas live in the Chiricahua Mountains due to the spiders being hard to find and remoteness and ruggedness of the mountains.
The spider was named after Michael Jacobi, a researcher who led many of the expeditions that led to the discovery of this new species.
Could the new tarantula soon go extinct?
In the report posted in ZooKeys, scientists say several threats could mean that the future of Aphonopelma jacobii is in jeopardy.
Those include development in the San Simon Valley and Portal areas, recreational activities such as people riding off-road vehicles, wildfires and climate change, especially increased temperatures that could eventually force the spiders to flee the Chiricahua Mountains in search of higher terrain and cooler temperatures.
The scientists also warned that the pet trade could cause a major issue for the new tarantula as they are worried that their announcement could lead lead to people trapping the spiders as they could be seen as valuable due to their reddish-orange abdomen, novelty and docile nature.
The scientists are especially worried about the population of spiders near Barfoot Park as that is an easily accessible area and has seen smuggling of rattlesnakes in the past.
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