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Meh - if thats just an ordinary sized hand then that spider is not that big.

I want you to grasp your hands together and reach out and try and make a BIG circle with your arms. Thats about the size of Tasmanian Cave Spiders. Gotta love 'em.

Bullshit.

We don't have the same kind of animals as they do on that Martian island you call "Australia", Ando.

Image from OSU spider page.

We had one of these guys in my sister's bed recently. They're relatively common around here, but they tend to be tiny. Couple of millimeters. I looked up how big they usually get, and one site said that the females (big ones) tend toward 5/8 inch if they reach a decent age. This fucker was at least an inch and a half long. These guys are jumpers, too. I'm surprised she only jumped out form under my glass on the first attempted. Went a good foot across and a couple down, too, because of the leap off the bed. Trapped it the second time. Although they're harmless, they're also the most common biting spider in Ohio. Well known for leaping at an exposed arm.

Not that I'm saying that's a big spider around here, you need a Wolf for that, and even those are kinda small. The midwest is not spider country.

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:We don't have the same kind of animals as they do on that Martian island you call "Australia", Ando.

He's a liar. They don't have two-foot spiders there, either.

Alan Bolte wrote:We had one of these guys in my sister's bed recently. They're relatively common around here, but they tend to be tiny. Couple of millimeters. I looked up how big they usually get, and one site said that the females (big ones) tend toward 5/8 inch if they reach a decent age. This fucker was at least an inch and a half long. These guys are jumpers, too. I'm surprised she only jumped out form under my glass on the first attempted. Went a good foot across and a couple down, too, because of the leap off the bed. Trapped it the second time. Although they're harmless, they're also the most common biting spider in Ohio. Well known for leaping at an exposed arm.

Not that I'm saying that's a big spider around here, you need a Wolf for that, and even those are kinda small. The midwest is not spider country.

That looks like a North American Wolf Spider but I can't be sure , I need a new bug book

Howedar wrote:

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:We don't have the same kind of animals as they do on that Martian island you call "Australia", Ando. :P

He's a liar. They don't have two-foot spiders there, either.

Bullshit. I'll draw your attention to this. I've had those fucking things hanging off the cave roof (at the time about an inch away from my FUCKING FACE - I hate crawl throughs) with their legs at FULL extension...

So yes, we do have 2ft spiders and they are fucking impressive.

'Hickmania Trogdolytes'? Is this one of those huge jokes Australians play on everybody else, like that whole gag about drop bears?

weemadando wrote:

Howedar wrote:

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:We don't have the same kind of animals as they do on that Martian island you call "Australia", Ando.

He's a liar. They don't have two-foot spiders there, either.

Bullshit. I'll draw your attention to this. I've had those fucking things hanging off the cave roof (at the time about an inch away from my FUCKING FACE - I hate crawl throughs) with their legs at FULL extension...

So yes, we do have 2ft spiders and they are fucking impressive.

Maybe, but have you ever found one in your house? A damn cave is different then your house, you know...

weemadando wrote:

Howedar wrote:

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:We don't have the same kind of animals as they do on that Martian island you call "Australia", Ando.

He's a liar. They don't have two-foot spiders there, either.

Bullshit. I'll draw your attention to this. I've had those fucking things hanging off the cave roof (at the time about an inch away from my FUCKING FACE - I hate crawl throughs) with their legs at FULL extension...

So yes, we do have 2ft spiders and they are fucking impressive.

I draw your attention to the website you used for support. Legspan of 180mm, or 18cm. About 8 inches.

But I'm real generous. I'll conceed that the wording about legspan is somewhat ambiguous, which means the legspan could be as much as 16in. A far cry from two feet, though.

Not only that, but its all leg. The body is less than an inch long.

weemadando wrote:

Howedar wrote:

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:We don't have the same kind of animals as they do on that Martian island you call "Australia", Ando.

He's a liar. They don't have two-foot spiders there, either.

Bullshit. I'll draw your attention to this. I've had those fucking things hanging off the cave roof (at the time about an inch away from my FUCKING FACE - I hate crawl throughs) with their legs at FULL extension...

So yes, we do have 2ft spiders and they are fucking impressive.

I don't care if it's not exactly 2ft.. thats HUGE! Wherever you live, I'm never going there. That's just scary as hell.

Isolder74 wrote:

Alan Bolte wrote:snip

That looks like a Wolf Spider but I can't be sure , I need a new bug book

Yeah, you really do need a new bug book. Or just look through here. There are a lot of good spider sources on the web. Anyway, Jumbo was clearly a member of Salticidae, and from the white markings on her back I deduced that she was a Bold Jumping Spider, or Phidippus audax.
Wolf spiders are much different in appearance, and the spider that started this thread probably is one. We usually don't see them till they get bigger than that here, but not much bigger. Seems like as spiders get old and large they tend to spend more time out in the open where humans will run into them. Should look into that. Wolf spiders are a member of Lycosidae, like this: I fucking love this pic.

EDIT: deinlined for you guys with the slow modems and small monitors.

Wherever you live, I'm never going there.

IIRC, he's a Tasmanian hunter-gatherer.

Thanks for the info, Alan. I can say personally that the two that were in our house most likely were wolf spiders, since they're native to here.

About a year ago our dad killed one in the laundry room shower that he said was twice as large as that one. It was the largest one he's ever found in the house.

Growing up in Ohio, I had several encounters with freakishly large wolf spiders.

Last week, however, I had an encounter with a freakishly large Black Widow, but they don't bother me nearly as bad as hunting spiders do. They stick to their webs for the most part, and aren't as likely to cuddle up next you in bed.*shudders*

My monitor lizard would like such a spider...

Alyrium Denryle wrote:My monitor lizard would like such a spider...

Well, the next time we find one, you can have 'im!
(You'll have to pay for shipping, of course. )

Now what I want to know is why a search for pics of the world's biggest spider (goliath bird-eater, there's one pic of it next to a dollar bill - and being slightly longer) and came up with some freak's Voyager maturbatory fansite.

hmmm female spider from the looks of it and a wolf spider from body shape. Jumping Spiders are short and stock and move jerkily at time making micro jumps .

Dalton wrote:Your little brother had to rescue you?

Younger siblings = cannon fodder.

Raxmei wrote:

Dalton wrote:Your little brother had to rescue you?

Younger siblings = cannon fodder.

You can say that again...

Uhh. Speaking of spiders cuddling up to you in bed... the house that I'm living in was built in 1962, and has been slowly falling to bits over the years. (A lot of that had to do with the fact that the contractor never really finished the job properly.)

Thanks to windows that were slightly warped and hence won't seal right, plus screens that are also warped, and doors that have maybe a 1/8" gap between the doorjamb and sill, we have a constant influx of insects. Gaps in the kitchen floorboards beneath the house mean that there are almost always black widows in the kitchen... At any rate, it's pretty disconcerting to see a spider suddenly shoot across a wall, or drop down right in front of you. We've got spitting spiders, wolf spiders, orb-weavers, black widows... Haven't been bitten yet, but you never know.

I hate this place.

The deadliest spider in the world: Sydney Funnel Web. The deadliest snake: the Fierce Snake. Both from Australia.

Howedar wrote:I draw your attention to the website you used for support. Legspan of 180mm, or 18cm. About 8 inches.

But I'm real generous. I'll conceed that the wording about legspan is somewhat ambiguous, which means the legspan could be as much as 16in. A far cry from two feet, though.

Not only that, but its all leg. The body is less than an inch long.

I can say from personal fucking experience that those statistics are if not inaccurate, that they are the median. Average height for an adult human is roughly 5'9" at the moment. But I'm 6'6" and we have many people my height and above.

The biggest cave spider I've encountered was one with legs each measuring roughly 25-30 centimetres (varied from leg to leg) and with a 2 inch long body. Location - Mole Creek Caves system, in "Hexagon" (I think that was the name of that particular piece of hole in the ground). That thing scared the living fucking shit out of me.