Well-known spiders live not only in the wild, but also live in houses and city apartments. Appearing in a person’s dwelling, some cause fear and horror, while others cause disgust and disgust. The largest spiders reach truly grandiose sizes.
There have been cases when giant spiders grew to 3.5 meters. And all would be well if they did not cause harm to humans. In the summer of 2012 in India, several people died from the attacks of these monsters. This article will discuss how the giant killer spiders look and eat.
Biggest spider
The incredible size of the spider is the crab Macrocheira kaempferi. Its length with extended limbs can reach 330 cm. These giant crab spiders 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 vice versa. Young individuals are caught and quite successfully sold in restaurants. Their meat is a valuable delicacy for which people spend a lot of money. But the old representatives of this species (the crab spider lives about 50 years) are sent to the terrariums as exhibition samples. You should not be afraid of such inhabitants of the Pacific Ocean, their terrestrial relatives are much more terrible and poisonous.
Giant hunter spiders
The largest specimens belong to the family Sparassidae, in which there are 83 species, one of which is shown in the photo. Giant spiders live in the tropical jungle, but often creep into homes and terrify their inhabitants.
The rainy season forces entire colonies to migrate in search of suitable housing. The size of the hunter spider is impressive: the adult female reaches 2.5-3 meters. This giant should not be confused with a crab, although in appearance they are very similar. The color of the predatory spider is from light gray to dark brown. Four pairs of eyes are located on the head in two rows, the body is sometimes covered with red spots. The entire body is covered with hair, and the legs with spikes. This is where the really hellish sight is! Despite their combat 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, destroying large quantities of harmful insects: cockroaches and beetles.
Attacks of predatory spiders in India
The summer of 2012 will be remembered for a long time by the inhabitants of the east of India, the state of Assam. In the city of Sadia, numerous colonies of predatory spiders appeared. Outwardly, they looked like a tarantula spider, but scientists have argued for a long time about this. According to eyewitnesses, predators did not just bite a person, but literally attacked civilians. Religious celebrations took place 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. There is still debate about the reasons for this behavior of monster spiders.
