Why So Blue? Tarantula's Cool Color Is Still a Mystery

Known as photonic nanostructures, the itsy-bitsy structures reflect blue light, turning a creepy-crawly arachnid into something resembling an eight-legged Cookie Monster. Scientists have known about the tarantula'slight-scattering hairs for some time, but a recent study took a closer look at the nanostructures that make so many spiders in the family Theraphosidae appear blue. The study found that the blue-reflecting nanostructures are unlikely to have evolved as a result of sexual selection, whi