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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Josh's Frogs" data-source="post: 237411" data-attributes="member: 49228">The Seven Dwarfs Part 2 This is day two! Today we will feature Cyriocosmus sellatus, commonly known as the Peruvian Dwarf Tiger Tarantula. Although these gems of the Peruvian Rainforest seem quite tiny next to the giants of the genus Theraphosa, they are actually quite large and bulky compared to their close relatives in the genus Cyriocosmus. Like many of their close relatives, they have a shiny heart shaped patch on their abdomen. This is interesting for two reasons.  One is that, although it is not shaped like that, this spider’s actual heart runs right underneath this heart. The other is that this heart shape pattern is made up of specialized urticating hairs that fall off when disturbed by a predator or by them when they are angry. These urticating hairs are a nightmarish cross between poison ivy and fiberglass insulation and function something like a powdered pepper spray for the tarantulas protection. Well, they say, “love hurts”. ‍<img class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" alt="♂️" title="Male sign    :male_sign:" src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/7.0/png/unicode/64/2642.png" data-shortname=":male_sign:" />[ATTACH=full]75737[/ATTACH]</blockquote>