Unais' web

The distinctive markings on the underside of the female
Poecilotheria rajaei from northern Sri Lanka. 

New species of venomous spider discovered in Sri Lanka

A new species of venomous spider has been discovered in Sri Lanka - and it's about the size of a human face.

The tarantulas have a stomach-churning 20 cm leg-span, distinctive daffodil-yellow markings on their legs and a pink band around their bodies. They were found living in the old doctor’s quarters of a hospital in the war-torn northern province of 'Mankulam' by scientists from Sri Lanka’s Biodiversity Education and Research (BER) organisation.

The arachnids have been named Poecilotheria rajaei, in honour of Michael Rajakumar Purajah, a senior police official who led the research team through a hazardous stretch of jungle ravaged by civil unrest.

Male Poecilotheria rajaei which has a leg span of 20cm
 from northern Sri Lanka

As a group, the spiders are related to a class of South American tarantula that includes the Goliath bird-eater, the world’s largest. The species was first seen in October 2009 after villagers presented a male specimen that they had killed to BER co-founder Ranil Nanayakkara.  Nanayakkara immediately realised that the dead arachnid did not resemble known Poecilotheria in the area and put together a team to hunt down its living relatives. Eventually, the team found enough spiders, including the ones hiding in a hospital to assemble a detailed description of the new arachnids, releasing photographs after years of research.