Yes, I know you think spiders are gross, and you think the only good spider is a dead spider, and you feel obliged to comment ‘hell nah’ on Facebook posts about the eight-legged creatures, but I have news for you.

They think you’re gross, too.

Jokes, but like most animals and humans, they just want to be left the hell alone.

Let’s take a moment to appreciate some of the world’s most beautiful spiders, as selected by Matthew Robertson, senior keeper of invertebrates at ZSL London Zoo.

He spoke with the Guardian, adding this caveat for the word ‘beautiful’:

“The beauty isn’t the side that we tend to come at it from here, although it’s always an advantage if an animal is highly charismatic.”

Yeah, it’s what’s inside that matters.

The beauty up top, with the iridescent rump, is the peacock jumping spider, so let’s start there:

Peacock jumping spiders are extraordinarily colourful, with the additional draw – particularly compared with the peacock parachute spider – of being only a couple of millimetres long. According to the experts, jumping spiders behave much like dogs or cats.

“The bottom line is, you can’t beat them,” says Robertson. “It’s not only the beautiful colours; it’s what they do with them. They are very, very charismatic – even rather cute.”

Don’t take his word for it, though – look at the male Maratus speciosus (Coastal peacock spider), which inhabits coastal dunes near Perth in Western Australia, getting his dance on:

Man’s got moves.

Robertson also picked the recently discovered burrow-dwelling spider. There might be some drama around who discovered it, but the fact that it’s a looker is without doubt:

Next up, the Peacock parachute spider:

This large (about 20cm across) tarantula [Poecilotheria metallica], is named after its purply-blue, metallic legs and its habit of jumping down from trees. It is a common misconception that large spiders are not typically venomous, says Robertson; this one “can deliver quite a painful bite as it parachutes on to the top of your head,” says Robertson.

“Luckily,” he adds – “well, not luckily” – it is extremely rare, and found only in a small area of India.

Finally, one you might find in your own garden if you look closely enough – the Crab spider:

The crab spider is less lovely to look at than a dolphin or horse, but more lovely than its name might lead you to expect. (List of the most beautiful crabs forthcoming.) Instead of spinning a web, it conceals itself within flowers to ambush its prey, changing its appearance to match.

“If they live on yellow flowers, they tend to be yellow,” explains Robertson. “They sit there waiting for some poor unfortunate bee to come along, then they nab them. It’s quite grim.” For sheer range of hues, he adds, “you can’t beat crab spiders”.

You had me at ‘sheer range of hues’.

There are a few more spiders on show here, if you’re not yet done.

Disgusted by the very idea that spiders can be beautiful? Here, let this haunt your dreams:

[source:guardian]