THAT THING IS SO COOL. I'm sure I'd be less delighted about it if the full leg span was captured in the pic - I think I'll focus on the badass fang area. :)
Uhmmm... You're really misinformed. Those spiders never get larger than 4" or so.
October 19, 2007
Anonymous said...
Not 10 or 11 inches. Centimeters more like it. We had a huge one in the house last year. Scared the sh*t outta me but we don't kill them cos they're harmless.
October 19, 2007
Anonymous said...
Heh, *some* huntsman spiders (eg Heteropoda Maxima) can get up to about 11 inches. Those are not found in Australia.
The Australian varieties don't get much bigger than 3-4 inches, as others have said.
It's been bothering me, since that wiki page says what it does. I did some research. It seems that H. maxima does exist, but it's not as big as claimed (on wiki). Here's a picture of someone holding a (dead) one.
Aww, that's be beyond cute, anonymous - I think people would be much more easily recociled to spiders and such "creepy crawlies" if they were running around in little knit sweaters. *nods*
omg, creepy crawlies in sweaters! Spiders could knit their own, and they would be so beautiful. I might feel better about a 3-4" spider if had a sweater... but only a little. 3-4" is still a pretty big spider to be sharing a room with. *shudders*
October 22, 2007
Anonymous said...
And a cute little hat with a pompom on top--precious!
October 23, 2007
Anonymous said...
Not that I would vollunteer to actually put the sweater on the spider myself. I think maybe I could handle placing the pompom hat. Too bad itty bitty mittens would interfere with its web crawling abilities. Perhaps just a cunning little muff 'round its neck? Or rather muffs, since it has 8 legs. How about leg warmers? Oh dear... getting a bit carried away...
Woohoo! Oh, this will be goooood. :] Man, the sweater thing progressed wicked fast. Hahahaaa...
October 26, 2007
Will is living out a personal nightmare of mine. The arachnid below, a Huntsman spider (sparassidae isopeda vasta) by the name of Claude, has taken residence in his bedroom. These Australian monsters are **supposedly** harmless, but they can get to a legspan of up to 4 inches! That makes for some large mandibles and long legs, which makes for me screaming like a little child.
You're a braver man than I, Will. I'd like to shake your hand (but the breadth of the Pacific ocean forbids it...)
Thanks for the photo, Will.
[Image]
posted by Raging Wombat at 12:31 PM on Oct 19, 2007
23 Comments
Close this window Jump to comment formTHAT THING IS SO COOL.
I'm sure I'd be less delighted about it if the full leg span was captured in the pic - I think I'll focus on the badass fang area. :)
October 19, 2007
Uhmmm... You're really misinformed. Those spiders never get larger than 4" or so.
October 19, 2007
Not 10 or 11 inches. Centimeters more like it. We had a huge one in the house last year. Scared the sh*t outta me but we don't kill them cos they're harmless.
October 19, 2007
Heh, *some* huntsman spiders (eg Heteropoda Maxima) can get up to about 11 inches. Those are not found in Australia.
The Australian varieties don't get much bigger than 3-4 inches, as others have said.
October 20, 2007
Will- I'm working on my PhD in entomology, specializing in arachnids. You can trust me on this. :)
10-11cm, as anonymous said is much more accurate as it's 3-4 inches. There are only a few true spiders that get larger than that, all orb weavers.
The largest tarantulas rarely top 10-11 inches.
October 20, 2007
It's been bothering me, since that wiki page says what it does. I did some research. It seems that H. maxima does exist, but it's not as big as claimed (on wiki). Here's a picture of someone holding a (dead) one.
http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,558445,00.jpg
I can see it being 5-6 inches, but no larger, just as I suspected originally.
Hope this clears things up for everyone.
October 20, 2007
Oh man, never mind how big it is, it looks likes it's sceaming!
October 22, 2007
Holy Frick!!!
October 22, 2007
It looks like a naked tarantula. Someone should knit a sweater for it like they do for other hairless beasties. : p
October 22, 2007
Okay, I looked at the pic again and it has hair.. but still.. I think a cute little Norwegian sweater would make him look more friendly...
October 22, 2007
Aww, that's be beyond cute, anonymous - I think people would be much more easily recociled to spiders and such "creepy crawlies" if they were running around in little knit sweaters.
*nods*
October 22, 2007
omg, creepy crawlies in sweaters! Spiders could knit their own, and they would be so beautiful. I might feel better about a 3-4" spider if had a sweater... but only a little. 3-4" is still a pretty big spider to be sharing a room with. *shudders*
October 22, 2007
And a cute little hat with a pompom on top--precious!
October 23, 2007
Not that I would vollunteer to actually put the sweater on the spider myself. I think maybe I could handle placing the pompom hat. Too bad itty bitty mittens would interfere with its web crawling abilities. Perhaps just a cunning little muff 'round its neck? Or rather muffs, since it has 8 legs. How about leg warmers? Oh dear... getting a bit carried away...
October 23, 2007
Hmmm... a sweater with at least 4 "arms" yes? ;)
That is a gorgeous spider. 4 inches or centimeters - still AWSOME. :D
October 23, 2007
Hmmm... a sweater with at least 4 "arms" yes? ;)
That is a gorgeous spider. 4 inches or centimeters - still AWSOME. :D
October 23, 2007
There, I've fixed the size. Everyone happy?
October 23, 2007
No, I'm not happy.
I'LL ONLY BE HAPPY WHEN IT'S PHOTOSHOPPED TO WEAR A TINY SWEATER.
...god, I'm an asshole. i'm done, i swear.
October 23, 2007
Yes! We must have a spider in a sweater! Who does Photoshop?
October 23, 2007
Oh man... now I feel like I have to try this. I'm telling you, if I make this happen, you all OWE ME BIG-TIME. ;) :P
October 25, 2007
I'm going to try too. We can have a spider sweater photoshop/knitt-a-thon!
October 25, 2007
SWEET! I haven't even figured out layering yet so I'm put my money on you. ;)
October 25, 2007
Woohoo!
Oh, this will be goooood.
:]
Man, the sweater thing progressed wicked fast. Hahahaaa...
October 26, 2007