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For some, large spiders cause disgust and horror, while others would like to have such an exotic pet in their collection. In any case, it is better to know the enemy by sight in order to understand in advance where you can encounter giants, which of them are dangerous and which are not. This will help you plan your travel route and avoid unpleasant surprises.
- 2 Brazilian wandering spider
- 3 Camel spider
- 4 Hercules baboon
- 5 Ornamental Rajai Tarantula
- 6 Colombian giant tarantula
- 7 Brazilian black tarantula
- 8 Horse Spider
- 9 Giant Huntsman Spider
- 10 Goliath tarantula
Tegenaria wall
The length of the body of the tegenaria is only 3 cm, but the span of the legs reaches 13–14 cm. Due to the curvature of the limbs, the spider seems gigantic, although it is the smallest representative of the rating.
Tegenaria is a very aggressive spider: during conflicts over prey, arthropods often kill relatives
Tegenaria lives mainly in Africa, but occasionally spiders of this species are found in Asia. They prefer to build nests in old and abandoned houses, and often live next to people. Fortunately, tegenaria is not dangerous for humans. Cannibalism is common among this species. Tegenaria are also one of the fastest spiders, but do not cope well over long distances.
Brazilian wandering spider
The length of the body of the Brazilian wandering spider reaches 15 cm. It is also included in the ranking of the most poisonous spiders: about 85% of collisions between arthropods and people end in death for the latter.
Brazillian spider venom is more toxic than black widow venom
The running spider lives in tropical South and Central America. Occasionally he climbs into human houses. There are two subspecies: jumping and running Brazilian wandering spiders. The first move with the help of sharp jumps. The Brazilian spider owes its name to its nomadic lifestyle: arthropods do not know how to weave webs.
Nephilic Orbweaver
Body Size:
up to 4 cm.
Paw span:
up to 12 cm.
This is a tree spider that weaves the largest web in the world, and also the largest spider that weaves it in general. In reality, it is nephiles, not tarantulas, that pose the real threat to birds. The neurotoxins in the venom are not lethal to humans, and the effects of the bite disappear within a couple of days.
Camel spider
The length of the spider's body reaches 7 cm, the span of its legs can be 12–15 cm. The arthropod lives in almost all desert areas of the world. The only inhabited continent that does not have camel spiders is Australia.
Officially, salpugs belong to arachnids, but we are accustomed to consider them spiders
Another name for the arthropod is salpuga. The main feature of the spider is its powerful jaws. Salpuga is capable of biting through a human nail, which can be considered a record among its relatives. Spider venom is not dangerous for people, but wound infection or allergies cannot be ruled out.
In some countries people see mysterious huge spiders
For many people, spiders evoke a subconscious feeling of fear, which in its radical form is called arachnophobia - fear of spiders. Moreover, in most cases, people encounter very small-sized representatives of arachnids.
Imagine how scared these people will be when they encounter a spider the size of a dog! Do you think this can only happen in a science fiction or horror film? Whatever the case (Paranormal news - paranormal-news.ru).
Previously, we already published an article about strange huge spiders that were seen in Russia in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic in the 20th century. There are also reports of incredibly large spiders in other countries.
Officially, the largest spider in the world is considered to be the goliath tarantula (Theraphosa blondi), whose length, taking into account the paw span, reaches a maximum of 28 cm. Anyone who has seen this goliath tarantula nicknamed Rosie can hardly imagine that there can exist on our planet spiders are much larger.
Photo: wikimedia.org
In 2001, cryptozoologist Karl Shuker heard from researcher Bill Gibbons an interesting story that happened to the spouses Reginald and Margarita Lloyd in 1938. The Lloyds were adventurers and travelers and that year they went into the jungles of the Belgian Congo.
Together with several porters and guides, they were moving along a barely noticeable path among the thickets when they suddenly saw something strange ahead on a thick leaf litter. At first it seemed to them like a local African squatting, then like a skinny monkey.
As the Lloyds got closer, they got a better look at the creature and realized with horror that it was a huge spider. Reginald was the first to come to his senses and reached for his movie camera. But alas, by the time he got it out and set it up, the huge spider had already quickly disappeared into the thickets.
This “giant spider” was made by a craftsman from willow branches. Photo: Keith Evans/ geograph.org.uk
The Lloyds' story was neither the first nor the last about the mysterious giant spiders of the Congo. Local pygmies from the Baka tribe have been seeing these spiders in the jungle for a long time and know a lot about them. In particular, they say that huge spiders can build something like “huts” out of leaves and live in them. They also spin very strong webs that can trap a small antelope or even a human child.
But don’t think that giant spiders are seen only in wild places where civilization has not reached. A huge arthropod creature was seen in 1948 in the very center of the United States, in the state of Louisiana.
Elderly William Slaydon, his wife and grandchildren left in their care lived near the city of Leesville, and one evening the whole family, as usual, got into the car and drove to the Leesville church. As they were driving along a rural dirt road, they suddenly saw something strange ahead, moving in a ditch at the edge of the road.
When Slaydon got closer, everyone got very scared because they saw that it was a spider “the size of a bathtub.” He was fumbling in a ditch, but when a car with people drove closer, he jumped out of the ditch onto the road, ran across the road in front of the amazed faces of the people and disappeared into the swampy thickets on the other side.
The whole family was so frightened by the sight that they never drove through that section of the area again.
Sculpture in the form of a huge spider
The following story comes from Papua New Guinea, a country famous for its savage tribes of cannibals (formerly). During the Second World War, the Japanese landed on Papua New Guinea, and Australian soldiers soon arrived there to drive them out. Among them was a young soldier, Peter Hines.
One day, when their squad went on reconnaissance into the jungle and camped for the night, Hines really wanted to go to the toilet. He could not stand it, so without asking he went into the first thickets he came across. When Hines did his business and put on his pants, he suddenly saw something that looked like a large fishing net, but snow-white, hanging on a bush next to him.
He did not immediately realize that it was a huge web that hung on the tree and on the bushes and was even spread out on the ground. Hines began examining the web and estimated that it was about 4.5 meters long.
And then he noticed a spider, with just one leg and part of its body sticking out at the edge of the web, but even this horrified him, because the spider was the size of a small dog. “It was pitch black, thick and covered with hairs. But not long, but about the same as that of a tarantula,” Hines described it.
It will be unnecessary to say that Hines did not even try to take a closer look at the spider, but simply quickly, but as quietly as possible, moved away from this place.
And this was not the only story about giant spiders from Papua New Guinea. One day, a man named Craig called the paranormal radio station Coast To Coast AM and told a story about how his grandfather saw a huge spider in that jungle.
This also happened during World War II. Craig's grandfather made his way through the jungle, armed with a machete, and chopped down thickets of vines with this knife. Suddenly he saw in front of him a huge web with a very large spider sitting on it.
This spider was only a little less than a meter in length and its body was hairless, completely smooth, and a pleasant emerald green color. Out of fear, Craig's grandfather attacked this spider with his machete and chopped it into pulp. This happened, according to Craig, in a place near Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea.
Hercules baboon
The body length of the Hercules baboon reaches 9 cm, and the span of the legs is 20 cm. This is the closest relative of the largest spider - the Goliath tarantula.
The Hercules baboon has the scientific name Pelinobius muticus, or King baboon spider, or royal baboon spider
The spider was first spotted in Africa. Hercules baboons are extremely rare and were last seen around 1900. Perhaps this species is already extinct.
Ornamental Rajai Tarantula
The body length of the tarantula is 7–8 cm, and the leg span is 15–20 cm. This is a relatively young species: scientists first encountered it in 2009.
Ornamental tarantulas are popular among breeders due to their unusual bright colors
Ornamental tarantulas can be found in Sri Lanka. They prefer to place their nests in old trees, but due to deforestation, spiders are forced to move into ruins and abandoned houses. Ornamental tarantulas are very rare. Scientists fear that due to the destruction of their natural habitat, spiders may disappear from the face of the earth.
Colombian giant tarantula
The body length of the Colombian giant tarantula reaches 8 cm, the span of the legs is up to 20 cm. This species is popular among spider lovers due to its bright appearance, relatively easy care and large size.
Spiders of this species are found in Brazil and Colombia
In general, the tarantula is safe for humans: its venom is not fatal, although it can cause allergies. The arthropod's main weapon is the spines on its hind legs. If threatened, the spider turns its back to the enemy and tries to fight back with them. This distinguishes it from other tarantulas, which, when attacked, take an aggressive stance and comb off their protective hairs.
Description
The most characteristic feature of the species is its unusual size. The body length of females is up to 46 mm, males - approximately 30 mm. The limb span ranges from 25 to 30 cm[1]. Both sexes are the same color. The main color is brownish-yellow. There are several irregular dark spots on the cephalothorax. The abdomen is somewhat darker than the cephalothorax and has two small dark depressions. Chelicerae, labium and coxa
dark red-brown color.
There are dark spots on the pedipalps. Males are slightly smaller. The pedipalps have a cymbium that is at least three times longer than the thick plate tegulum
.
Tibia
tentacles are elongated. The female epigyne has two characteristic, forward-directed, ribbon-like processes.
Brazilian black tarantula
Another name for the species is anthracine gramostola. The length of the arthropod's body reaches 18 cm. The spider lives in Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina.
The Brazilian black tarantula is one of the darkest-colored spider species
The Brazilian black tarantula is another popular species among spider enthusiasts. He has a peaceful and calm disposition. If food is available, the arthropod is unlikely to come into conflict with humans, but you should not try to touch the tarantula: the spider's hairs can cause itching and irritation.
Horse spider
The length of the body of a horse spider is 8–10 cm, and the span of its legs reaches 25 cm. Females are much larger than males and live longer: 25 years versus 2–3.
Horse spiders live in the rainforests of eastern Brazil
Horse spiders are often kept at home by exotic pet lovers. This is not the safest pet. Although the arthropod has a docile disposition and willingly reproduces in captivity, it can bite if there is a threat. The venom is not fatal to humans, but it can kill other pets: a cat, a small dog, a rodent, etc. In addition, the horse spider scratches off its hairs in an attempt to defend itself, which can cause itching, irritation, or temporary loss of vision.
The largest spider in the world
Usually we encounter tiny spiders, no more than one centimeter in size.
They can be seen, for example, in the bathroom, slowly descending down their web from somewhere on the ceiling. Theraphosis Blonda
However, larger spiders are rarely found in the city, and in any case their size will be no more than 5-6 centimeters. Meanwhile, in nature there is a huge spider, which even has an unusual name - Teraphosa Blonda or Goliath tarantula, whose body length is 9 cm and the limb span is up to 26 cm. The largest representative of this species was caught back in 1965 in one of the villages Venezuela. His leg span reached 28 centimeters, for which he was included in the Guinness Book of Records.
Its color is dark brown, its paws are covered with small hairs. You can meet Theraphose Blonde in the tropical forests of Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela and northern Brazil. He lives in deep burrows, the entrance to which is usually lined with cobwebs. It feeds on frogs, toads, mice, lizards and even snakes, although they are small in size.
But in captivity it is quite difficult to meet the Goliath tarantula, since its reproduction does not depend on the time of year.
In addition, it is very difficult to obtain offspring from the Goliath tarantula in captivity. In this regard, its export from its permanent habitat is prohibited. Almost all individuals that live in our country are illegally imported. Heteropoda maxima
Goliath, however, has a serious competitor - this is Heteropoda maxima, a species of spider of the family Sparassidae, which is also considered one of the largest in the world, since the span of its limbs is much larger than that of Theraphos Blond, but its body size is much smaller. You can meet it in the Laotian province of Khammouan - here it inhabits dark and deep caves and rarely comes to the surface.
The most memorable feature of this type of spider is its large size. So, the body length of females reaches 4.6 cm, and males - 3 cm. Not much? Only at first glance. Now look at the span of the limbs - up to 30 centimeters! And these are just the specimens scientists have found - there is a possibility that somewhere in the caves there lives a much larger Heteropoda maxima than those we know about.
Externally, males and females are almost the same, except perhaps for size. They are even the same color - brownish-yellow. Several darker spots can be seen on the cephalothorax, while the abdomen is somewhat darker. The tentacles are elongated and have a similar color to the abdomen and cephalothorax.
At the moment, not as much is known about this type of spider as scientists would like.
Nephila
We continue our list. Here we have the Nephila spider, which is Latin for “who loves to weave.” At the moment, these are the largest spiders on the planet that weave webs.
The size of the arthropod's body is not at all amazing - its length does not exceed 4 centimeters, sometimes even less. But the span of the paws can reach 12, sometimes even 15 centimeters, and this, you see, is quite a lot. At the same time, we should not forget that only the female can boast of such dimensions - males are several times smaller.
Since this is a whole genus of large spiders, they are divided into several species. Depending on the species, Nephila can be found in Australia, South America, Africa, Asia and South America. The species N. clavipes is often pursued by small silver-black spiders, which are a kind of parasites - they steal all the food from their owner, as a result of which he is forced to change his “place of residence” and weave a new web.
Almost all spiders of the genus Nephila have a strong poison, which, fortunately, although dangerous for people, does not lead to death. So, at the site of the bite, redness first appears, then blisters, while the patient feels pain. However, all these symptoms disappear a day later. In rare cases, breathing becomes difficult, but only asthmatics are susceptible to this.
Nephil spiders skillfully weave webs. It is secreted from special glands and has incredible properties. For example, threads can support very heavy weights. In addition, a victim caught in a web will never be able to get out of it.
Meanwhile, fishermen on the coast of the Pacific and Indian oceans have found an interesting use for these arthropods - they catch Nephila, collect them in a net and make a ball out of it, which they throw into the water and catch fish.
South Russian Tarantula
Another large representative of arthropods, belonging to the family of wolf spiders. The body is small - up to 3 centimeters, males are on average 50 millimeters shorter, but the span of the legs is by no means small - up to 10-11 centimeters. You can meet the South Russian tarantula both in our country and in Central Asia. It prefers dry steppe or desert climates. Sometimes it makes itself known in forest-steppe zones.
It lives in deep burrows (up to 40 centimeters), which it digs on its own, after which it covers them with cobwebs. It hunts small insects directly from its burrow - as soon as it approaches the entrance, the tarantula instantly rushes at it and kills it. The spider is extremely sensitive to vibration, so it always knows what is happening on the surface. As a rule, it practically does not get out of its shelter during the day, but at night it can afford to hunt insects at a distance from its “home”. During the day, it is easy to lure him out if you tie a button to a string and swing it before entering the hole.
In winter, it deepens the hole and covers the entrance to it with earth. After wintering, in the spring, females begin to weave cocoons in which they lay eggs. The most interesting thing is that the female wears this cocoon on herself until the spiderlings appear. For some time they live directly on their mother, and then leave her and settle in the nearby area. Females live for about two years, males for about a year.
As for the danger to humans, the tarantula is safe in this regard.
It practically never bites people, but precedents have still happened. The pain of the bite is comparable to a hornet sting, after which malaise and swelling appear. The bite site must be burned with a match, as this causes thermal decomposition of the poison. Common crossbill
The body length of the crossbill can reach 25 mm, males are approximately two times smaller. The span of the legs is up to 9-10 centimeters. The spider was called a cross spider for a reason - on its back you can find a pattern in the form of a cross.
The arthropod is distributed in North America, as well as throughout Europe. Most often it can be found in forests, less often in gardens and meadows.
The white cross eats insects, among which you can see not only flies, but also bees and even butterflies. They all end up in the web, where the spider feeds on them. When he is full, he wraps his victim in a web and leaves it hanging until he gets hungry. By the way, the web has good properties and can withstand even large insects.
As for the breeding season, it begins at the end of summer. After mating, which lasts only a few seconds but can be repeated many times, the female often eats the male. In autumn it lays eggs in a cocoon and dies. The spiderlings hatch only in late spring and become sexually mature a year later.
Giant Huntsman Spider
The giant huntsman spider shares first place with the goliath tarantula. The physique of the first is more fragile: the length of the body barely reaches 4.6 cm. But the span of the legs is 25–30 cm.
Recently, cases of giant hunting spiders entering homes and public institutions have become more frequent; most likely this is due to the activities of poachers
Giant huntsman spiders primarily live in caves in Laos. They are often confused with other huntsman spiders that are found in most warm regions of the world. Arthropods can be distinguished from their relatives by the ticking sounds they make when attacked. Unlike other cave spiders, the hunter has well-developed eyes.
Habitat and characteristics of the hunting spider
When it came to playing the radioactive spider that bit the main character in the first Spider-Man film, the writers chose Delena Cancerides. It is part of a group of 1,225 spiders that make up the family Sparassidae, the 11th largest spider family in the world. Australia and Asia are home to most of these giants. In Australia it is much more common, hence the nickname - Australian hunting spider.
Huntsman spiders are found not only in Australia, but also in parts of Asia. They are also found in the United States, especially in the subtropical areas of Florida, California and Texas, and in the coastal areas of Georgia and South Carolina. The hunter was able to get there from Asia through the good old trade routes and routes.
The Huntsman is one of the largest species of spiders on this planet. The body length is about 2 cm, but the spider's legs can stretch up to 15 cm. Instead of bending vertically in relation to the body, as in most spiders, these legs spread forward and laterally in a crab-like manner thanks to twisted joints. Some noticed the similarity of the spider's spreading legs to the claws of a crab and decided to call it a giant crab spider. These unusual leg joints come in handy when the spider needs to hide in a small nook, such as between rocks and pebbles.
Huntsman spiders are usually gray or brown in color. Many species have a flattened body, as they have adapted to live in narrow spaces, for example, in rock crevices and under loose bark. Due to their large size, you might mistake them for another infamous giant, the tarantula. Although they are very similar, they belong only to distant relatives. You can tell a tarantula from a hunter by its hairiness. Huntsman spiders are not nearly as hairy as tarantulas. You can read about how big a tarantula can be at this link.
