@viper69 lay some knowledge on him homie! Lol..
Can a tarantula be albino?
- Thread starter Josh Perry
- Start date
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2013
- Messages
- 3,291
Does he have a publication on the subject? I wouldn't be surprised, he's brought a lot to light today for me already
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2006
- Messages
- 18,710
This is not true.
A more accurate statement is there is no known albino tarantula. For decades there was no such thing as an albino Burmese python till it was photographed by NatGeo in about 1976 I believe, and if one knows snakes, the rest is history. The same is true for a recently discovered Brazilian Rainbow Boa.
Point is, just because we haven't seen it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist RELATIVELY speaking. There is albinism in insects and variety of other "lower" vertebrates, no reason no to believe there is or wasn't an albino T in the wild. Though of course it would be hard for it survive being of different color
And, while N. incei Golds, may not be albino, they are both a pattern and color mutation. So albinism isn't that far away IMO.
Will do!
Does he have a publication on the subject? I wouldn't be surprised, he's brought a lot to light today for me already
Correction, publications
I've actually commented on this before with data. If you google this up you will find evidence of albinism in insects.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1525-142X.2012.00535.x/full
http://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/110004022280/
AND before you guys say "well that's only insects"....
Here's an arachnid for you from 1986!!
http://www.americanarachnology.org/joa_free/joa_v14_n1/joa_v14_p101.pdf
Last edited:
Thanks viper those were the links that you shared with me but I couldn't find them..This is not true for at least insects. There is documentation.
A more accurate statement is there is no known albino tarantula. For decades there was no such thing as an albino Burmese python till it was photographed by NatGeo in about 1976 I believe, and if one knows snakes, the rest is history. The same is true for a recently discovered Brazilian Rainbow Boa.
Point is, just because we haven't seen it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist RELATIVELY speaking. There is albinism in insects and variety of other "lower" vertebrates, no reason no to believe there is or wasn't an albino T in the wild. Though of course it would be hard for it survive being of different color
And, while N. incei Golds, are not albino, they are both a pattern and color mutation. So albinism isn't that far away IMO.
Will do!
I've actually commented on this before with data. If you google this up you will find evidence of albinism in insects.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1525-142X.2012.00535.x/full
http://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/110004022280/
Appreciate the info bro!
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2006
- Messages
- 18,710
I added a new one this time, for arachnids
Ahh I didn't catch that one.. Its a long read but I downloaded it!I added a new one this time, for arachnids
Venom1080
Arachnoemperor
- Joined
- Sep 24, 2015
- Messages
- 4,607
hey, im down for a couple albino A sp amazonicas or P metallicas. whites one of my favorite colors in Ts. i hope its just not discovered yet. thanks for the info.A more accurate statement is there is no known albino tarantula. For decades there was no such thing as an albino Burmese python till it was photographed by NatGeo in about 1976 I believe, and if one knows snakes, the rest is history. The same is true for a recently discovered Brazilian Rainbow Boa.
Point is, just because we haven't seen it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist RELATIVELY speaking. There is albinism in insects and variety of other "lower" vertebrates, no reason no to believe there is or wasn't an albino T in the wild. Though of course it would be hard for it survive being of different color
And, while N. incei Golds, may not be albino, they are both a pattern and color mutation. So albinism isn't that far away IMO.
Toxoderidae
Arachnoprince
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2015
- Messages
- 1,008
I found two albino mantids quite a few years ago. Had I not smashed that iPod with a hammer/knife until I lit the battery on fire I would show the images I tookhey, im down for a couple albino A sp amazonicas or P metallicas. whites one of my favorite colors in Ts. i hope its just not discovered yet. thanks for the info.
Sarkhan42
Arachnoangel
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2015
- Messages
- 907
Dare I ask about the story behind that
- I expect nothing less than "why not?"Considering spiders contain melanin, it's wise to assume that an albino is possible.
http://jeb.biologists.org/content/early/2015/10/07/jeb.128801
- Joined
- May 7, 2004
- Messages
- 1,902
What's interesting about coloration in tarantulas is that color is not produced by just one means. Sometimes color is from pigment cells (melanin), sometimes from sclerotization , and sometimes it is produced structurally (air pockets between the micro-plates that make up setae). As the article on albinism in a scorpion that Viper69 linked to explains, the albino scorpion was not described as white, but pale with the highly sclerotized parts appearing normally and the eyes lacking pigmentation. In theory, albinism in tarantulas would appear differently depending on the species and how colors are produced. For example, an albino Poecilotheria metallica would probably retain it's blue and yellow color because those are produced by the structure of its setae while the eyes, weakly sclerotized parts, and blacks produced by pigment would appear pale. Perhaps a pale yellow/ cream color. An albino Aphonopelma hentzi by contrast would probably appear pale in color since it's brown and black coloration, I'm assuming, comes from pigmented cells and sclerotization.
Enter the troglobitic species of tarantulas of the genus Hemirrhagus. There are few species of Hemirrhagus that live in cave systems in eastern Mexico as well as one from Brazil, Tmesiphantes hypogeus. The descriptions of some of these Mexican troglobites (I didn't note which ones) hint at the possibility that they are in fact albinos. The majority of the troglobitic or troglophile species are described as having no pigmentation in the lateral eyes, for the ones that have eyes anyway, and some are described as being a yellowish color and without pigmentation.
Enter the troglobitic species of tarantulas of the genus Hemirrhagus. There are few species of Hemirrhagus that live in cave systems in eastern Mexico as well as one from Brazil, Tmesiphantes hypogeus. The descriptions of some of these Mexican troglobites (I didn't note which ones) hint at the possibility that they are in fact albinos. The majority of the troglobitic or troglophile species are described as having no pigmentation in the lateral eyes, for the ones that have eyes anyway, and some are described as being a yellowish color and without pigmentation.
Toxoderidae
Arachnoprince
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2015
- Messages
- 1,008
I was bored.Dare I ask about the story behind that
gypsy cola
Arachnoknight
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2014
- Messages
- 192
tarantulas cannot be a mulatto, mosquito or an albino.
Andrea82
Arachnoemperor
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2016
- Messages
- 3,685
Toxoderidae
Arachnoprince
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2015
- Messages
- 1,008
It was the middle of winter, I couldn't go outside, and the electronic was failing! I was given permission to destroy it.Youth of today....
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2006
- Messages
- 18,710
I couldn't find that paper readily, thanks for linking it. It's the same team that published the 2015 paper on blue reflectance in Ts.
Indeed, I didn't' get into the above because I had already posted that paper a while back.
@Matabuey mentioned a different paper by the same group that published on the origin of blue in Ts. If you need the ref let me know, but I suspect you already own it.
It would be interesting to see an albino T, and observe what colors are affected, if any, in the normal WT phenotype's setae.
As an aside, blue is the rarest color in nature, and more frequently than expected it is not created by pigments.