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Giant huntsman spider: The world's largest spider by leg span
https://www.livescience.com ^ | August 12, 2021 | By Jessie Szalay

Posted on 08/17/2021 11:27:20 AM PDT by Red Badger

Giant huntsman spiders are one of the world's biggest spiders.

An Australian huntsman spider. Image credit: Shutterstock

Huntsman spiders are large, fast spiders that live in warm climates throughout the world. They are named for the way that they catch their prey.

Unlike many spider species, huntsman spiders "don't build webs to catch prey," said Christy Bills, an entomologist and the invertebrate collections manager at the Natural History Museum of Utah. Instead, these spiders hunt down their prey.

There are thousands of subspecies in this family (Sparassidae). The average huntsman spider species is about 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) long with a leg span of up to 5 inches (12.7 cm). The giant huntsman spider (Heteropoda maxima), however, has a leg span of up to 12 inches (30 cm), making it the largest spider by diameter; it is often described as being "the size of a dinner plate." (The largest spider by weight is probably the goliath birdeater tarantula (Theraphosa blondi), according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.)

Peter Jäger, head of the arachnology department at the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt, Germany, discovered the giant huntsman in a cave in Laos in 2001, according to his research published in the journal Zoosystema. Only a few people in the world have seen this behemoth arachnid.

(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...


TOPICS: Gardening; History; Outdoors; Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: arachnid; arachnids; heebiejeebies; spider; spiders
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To: UnwashedPeasant

Tarantulas aren’t especially dangerous, just big......................


21 posted on 08/17/2021 11:43:50 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: Red Badger

“ The huntsman he can’t hunt the fox nor so loudly to blow his horn
And the tinker he can’t mend kettle or pots without a little barleycorn”

Traffic


22 posted on 08/17/2021 11:46:30 AM PDT by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you. )
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To: EQAndyBuzz
According to snopes (if you can believe snoped, heh) the camel spider photo was fake, or more accurately, an optical illusion. It looked big because it was being held up close to the camera but appeared to be more distant.

For more fake but still NOPE action, and a LOL...


23 posted on 08/17/2021 11:46:45 AM PDT by z3n
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To: packagingguy

Australia: More deadly reptiles and invertebrates than any other country/continent. By far. But this one doesn’t seem to be any danger to humans.


24 posted on 08/17/2021 11:48:05 AM PDT by katana
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To: Red Badger

25 posted on 08/17/2021 11:48:54 AM PDT by UnwashedPeasant (The pandemic we suffer from is not COVID. It is Marxist Democrat Leftism.)
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To: Vaquero

Low Spark of High Heel Boys............................


26 posted on 08/17/2021 11:50:47 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: Red Badger

“Imagine on falling out of a tree onto your head.................”

While living in Australia in 1976-78, I woke up one morning to have one crawling up the wall next to my head. Yes, I woke very fast.
A year later I was in Tasmania when one dropped from a porch onto my tie. Wide tie - but the Huntsman was bigger. Flicked it off quick.


27 posted on 08/17/2021 11:54:07 AM PDT by LibertyOh
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To: Red Badger

50” screen here. That is one terrifyingly large spider.


28 posted on 08/17/2021 12:00:45 PM PDT by Rebelbase
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To: Red Badger

“ Tarantulas aren’t especially dangerous, just big.....................”

Correct. The greater danger comes from the plate glass door I would run through or possibly the window I would jump out of upon encountering this relatively benign monster.


29 posted on 08/17/2021 12:01:28 PM PDT by bk1000 (Banned from Breitbart)
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To: changeitback440

yeah i should...

the local chinese place has purrfected general tso’s kitten...


30 posted on 08/17/2021 12:02:20 PM PDT by heavy metal (smiling improves your face value as well as making people wonder what the hell you're up to... 😁)
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To: Red Badger

This is why tactical nuclear weapons were invented.


31 posted on 08/17/2021 12:02:25 PM PDT by sphinx
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To: Red Badger

Didn’t like that one. But yeah sure.


32 posted on 08/17/2021 12:14:24 PM PDT by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you. )
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To: Vaquero

It was my favorite. John Barleycorn is next...............


33 posted on 08/17/2021 12:14:59 PM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: Red Badger

John Barleycorn must die album


34 posted on 08/17/2021 12:15:05 PM PDT by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you. )
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To: Red Badger

Yeah... I don’t like those.


35 posted on 08/17/2021 12:20:40 PM PDT by Bullish (CNN is what happens when 8th graders run a cable network.)
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To: Bullish

They are harmless...........................mostly.................


36 posted on 08/17/2021 12:26:48 PM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: Red Badger

Every spider in the world has some kind of venom they use to paralyze their prey except certain species of tarantulas, if I remember correctly. So yes, tarantulas are probably among the least harmful to humans of all spider species. It’s funny how they’re also probably the ugliest and scariest.


37 posted on 08/17/2021 12:27:23 PM PDT by Bullish (CNN is what happens when 8th graders run a cable network.)
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To: Red Badger

A bump, with some background music for this thread...





"The Spider and the Fly" - The Rolling Stones




38 posted on 08/17/2021 12:28:29 PM PDT by Songcraft
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To: Red Badger

I kill every damn spider I can.


39 posted on 08/17/2021 12:29:28 PM PDT by sport
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To: sport

Spiders are mostly benign except for Black Widows and Brown Recluse.

I have had spider bites that just leave a blue bruise for a few days and itch.................


40 posted on 08/17/2021 12:31:21 PM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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