Giant spiders - fiction or the truth of life?

Всем известные пауки обитают не только в дикой nature, but also settle in houses and city apartments. Appearing in the dwelling of a person, they cause fear and horror in some, disgust and disgust in others. The largest spiders reach truly grand dimensions.

Cases when giant spiders are recordedgrew to 3.5 meters. And everything would be fine if they did not harm the person. In the summer of 2012 in India, several people died from the attacks of these monsters. How giant killer spiders look and eat will be discussed in this article.

The biggest spider

Incredible sized spider - this is a crab Macrocheirakaempferi. Its length with elongated limbs can reach 330 cm. These giant spider crabs live in the Pacific Ocean near the islands of Kyushu and Honshu. With such an impressive size, the body is only 60 cm. The main menu of the giants: crustaceans, mollusks, small fish. For people, they are not dangerous, even the opposite. Young individuals are caught and quite successfully sold to restaurants. Their meat is a valuable delicacy for which people pay a lot of money. But the old representatives of this species (crab spider lives about 50 years) are sent to the terrariums as exhibition samples. Fearing such inhabitants of the Pacific is not worth it, much more terrible and poisonous their land relatives.

Giant hunting spiders

The largest specimens belong to the familySparassidae, within which there are 83 species, one of them is represented in the photo. Giant spiders live in the tropical jungle, but often creep into their homes and terrify their inhabitants.

The rainy season makes whole colonies migratein search of a suitable home. The size of the huntsman spider is impressive: the adult female reaches 2.5-3 meters. This giant should not be confused with a crab, although outwardly they are very similar. The color of the predatory spider is from light gray to dark brown. On the head in two rows are four pairs of eyes, the body is sometimes covered with red spots. The entire torso is covered with hair, and paws are spiked. Now where really hellish sight! Despite their fighting appearance, these giant spiders do not attack humans and vertebrates. Their main diet is insects and small invertebrates. Experts say that these giants bring certain benefits by destroying large quantities of harmful insects: cockroaches and beetles.

Predatory Spider Attacks in India

Summer 2012 will long be remembered for residents of the EastIndia, Assam State. Numerous colonies of predatory spiders appeared in the city of Sadia. Outwardly, they looked like a bird spider, but scientists have long argued about this. According to eyewitnesses, predators did not just bite a person, but literally attacked civilians. Religious celebrations were held in the central square and unsuspecting people received multiple bites. Two people died, about ten were hospitalized. As the examination showed, the poison of these predators was much more toxic than that of ordinary tarantulas. Until now, there are disputes about the causes of this behavior of spider monsters.