I found this, already dead on the floor directly beneath where I am sitting right now. I've tried my best, but in all honesty this photo just doesn't convey the massiveness of the thing. Were it alive when I found it I dread to think what my reaction would have been.
View attachment 1526
Err, forgot to mention that's a shot from the roof of the high rise where I live and that 20p is a scale model from the local funfair. It's about two London buses across.Hmmm not that impressive. We get much bigger spiders around here.
Err, forgot to mention that's a shot from the roof of the high rise where I live and that 20p is a scale model from the local funfair. It's about two London buses across.
And the carpark is white tarmac.
...And what about that text they've painted on that tarmac? Whoever did that, what were they thinking - eh?Err, forgot to mention that's a shot from the roof of the high rise where I live and that 20p is a scale model from the local funfair. It's about two London buses across.
And the carpark is white tarmac.
That's certainly is a very impressive scale model 20p that. Well done local fun fair for putting all that effort into making it!
It's lucky that giant spider died next to it too, otherwise who could tell how big it was?? Good pic DP and lucky you had your camera with you when it died, next to the 20p.
I know. You just couldn't make it up. Bloody giant spiders....And what about that text they've painted on that tarmac? Whoever did that, what were they thinking - eh?
I found this, already dead on the floor directly beneath where I am sitting right now. I've tried my best, but in all honesty this photo just doesn't convey the massiveness of the thing. Were it alive when I found it I dread to think what my reaction would have been.
View attachment 1526
I'm new around here, so it's probably not my place to mention that, rather than being dead, that might simply be the moulted cuticle of the spider, shed as it grows. Grows bigger. Possibly hairier, too.
Sweet dreams
See? SEE? Try telling Felid and Myth that, they don't believe a word I say. If I go AWOL, you'll know what's happened.I'm new around here, so it's probably not my place to mention that, rather than being dead, that might simply be the moulted cuticle of the spider, shed as it grows. Grows bigger. Possibly hairier, too.
Sweet dreams
You're probably right since there is no hair on the corpse, unless it's hairless.I'm new around here, so it's probably not my place to mention that, rather than being dead, that might simply be the moulted cuticle of the spider, shed as it grows. Grows bigger. Possibly hairier, too.
Sweet dreams
Or a lady spider going out on a dateYou're probably right since there is no hair on the corpse, unless it's hairless.
Did you look at that photo?You're probably right since there is no hair on the corpse, unless it's hairless.
I'm new around here, so it's probably not my place to mention that, rather than being dead, that might simply be the moulted cuticle of the spider, shed as it grows. Grows bigger. Possibly hairier, too.
Sweet dreams
The souls of unbaptised children and of those unfortunates who died friendless and alone, the unfulfilled dreams of those born in the wrong era, and the tears of unloved pets.Spiders have Sheds? What do they keep in them?
Dammit! I'm going to end up in a spider shed!...and of those unfortunates who died friendless and alone...
You and me both, Pete.Dammit! I'm going to end up in a spider shed!
You have a light fitting? That's posh.I already am in a spider shed. [Looks up at the cobwebs on the light fitting.]
'Johnnycashi' tarantula: Scientists name newly-discovered arachnid after country crooner
GET bitten by this scary, hairy, country wanderer and it’ll burn, burn, burn like a ring of fire.
By STUART WINTER
PUBLISHED: 16:45, Thu, Feb 4, 2016 | UPDATED: 17:30, Thu, Feb 4, 2016
GETTY/SWNS
Aphonopelma johnnycashi is named after the famous singer
This fist-sized tarantula with its fearsome fangs has been named in honour of the western music legend Johnny Cash.
Aphonopelma johnnycashi, as it is known in scientific circles, was recently discovered close to the setting of one of the singer’s greatest hits – Folsom Prison, California.
Like the singer’s famous Man in Black fashion preferences, the six-inch spider is also into shadowy outfits.
The males have deathly black bodies. Yet for all the scary looks and poisonous fangs, the scientist who named the spider says the Johnny Cash spider, like all American tarantulas, is harmless, describing them as “teddy bears with eight legs”.
RELATED ARTICLES
Dr Chris Hamilton, from the Florida Museum of Natural History, explained how the spider is one of 14 new species of Aphonopelma tarantulas discovered in the United States after a decade long search from baking deserts to icy mountainsides.
Scientists discover MONSTER spider with mystery SPIKY PENIS living...
FOSSIL PHALLUS: See 99 MILLION YEAR OLD erection!
Almost 3,000 specimens were studied, ranging from six-inch wide creatures such as Johnnycashi to others the size of small coins.
The team’s findings, published in the journal ZooKeys, says there a total of 29 US tarantula species, including the 14 new Aphonopelma types.
For Dr Hamilton, discovering new species so close to home is a thing of wonder.
SWNS
The spider is one of 14 new species of Aphonopelma tarantulas discovered in the United States
GETTY
Johnny Cash
He said: “We often hear about how new species are being discovered from remote corners of the Earth, but what is remarkable is that these spiders are in our own backyard.
“With the Earth in the midst of a sixth mass extinction, it is astonishing how little we know about our planet's biodiversity, even for charismatic groups such as tarantulas.”