Nearly half a billion people in the world have arachnophobia – means they are mortally terrified of spiders. And these are just your average house spiders, most of which are pretty calm creatures and not dangerous at all.
But imagine coming face to face with a rare giant spider that people thought was extinct for good.
Such a rare species of giant spider has been rediscovered in England, and everything about this spider is terrifying.
Spider with a 360-degree vision
A predator that hunts only during the night, this spider has 8 eyes with a 360-degree vision so that it can see all-around at the same time. It was feared for its agility and speed, giving rise to many myths in old-time England.
So people were kinda relieved when it was declared to be extinct in 1993.
And this is where it is found again
But then this giant fox-spider was spotted at training ground inside the Ministry of Defence in UK, causing panic.
The discoverer, Mike Waite, has been searching for this spider for last two years.
“As soon as my torch fell on it, I knew what it was. I was elated. With coronavirus there have been lots of ups and downs this year, and I also turned 60, so it was a good celebration of that. It’s a gorgeous spider, if you’re into that kind of thing.”
Unlike other spiders, this is a hunter
The great fox-spider belongs to the wolf-spider family. And the amazing thing about this spider is that while most spiders create webs to catch insects – this fox-spider actually chases beetles and even other spiders, it hunts them down and injects them with its deadly venom.
This spider even has fangs but they are probably not harmful to humans.
Why are they so rare?
Waite used aerial photos of the ground to spot sandy patches among the shrubbery, which suits the spider’s ambush-hunt style. He found one female and several males and some immature spiderlings.
A TV presenter in Britain called it “the most exciting thing to happen in wildlife circles for quite some time.”
These giant spiders are rarely seen because they mostly come out during the night, and they have excellent camouflage, but they also dig holes in the ground and hibernate under rocks after lining them with silk.
Featured Image Courtesy: BBC Earth
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