The Biggest And Largest Spiders in the World

6. Hercules baboon (Hysterocrates Hercules): leg span of 203 mm (8 inches)

If you’re thinking of monkeys when you hear the word baboon, think again…cause there’s a spider in town which is also named like that, and he’s big! The Hysterocrates Hercules belongs to the tarantula family, and it’s 20,3 cm long. These little critters are now used as pets… a pretty gruesome pet. Have a look at the :

7. Hysterocrates Spider: 17,8 cm

This spider is a member of the Theraphosidae family and people also have them as pets these days (what ever happened to the good old fashioned cat or dog in the back yard?)

8. Phoneutria: Brazilian wandering spider: Leg Span of 15 cm

Not only is this spider big, but he’s also one of the most venomous species found in tropical South and Central America. They get their “wandering” nickname because of the fact that during night they walk on the jungle floor in search of prey, rather than just sit and wait for prey to come to them. Their Latin name, Phoneutra means “murderess” so they have two scary elements in their name, enough to get us running the other way.

Some members of its family are known to pose a threat for humans, if the spider manages to insert a full venom dose, it’s bite can lead to serious injuries or even death. These spiders are highly dangerous and should be avoided at all cost.

9. Cerbalus aravensis: 6 inches

The Cerbalus aravensis is a relatively new species which was discovered by scientists in 2010, in the Sands of Samar, Israel. While details about its habitat and patterns remain unknown, scientists say that this is a smart nocturnal creature, which constructs underground hide-aways, with doors made of sand and glue in order to disguise the entrance from predators. Just the leg span of this spider is 15 centimetres (6 in), when we add its body… we get a scary, 7-8 inch spider… eww.

10. Nephila edulis: Golden silk orb-weaver

Meet the Golden silk orb-weaver… a spider with some pretty nasty relatives, N. jurassica, which lived over 165 million years ago, just its leg span was of 15 cm, and they stand as the largest fossilized spider on Earth (who knows what we might find on other planets).

If you want to read more about the largest spider fossil ever found, click here.

Female Golden orb-weavers generally reach sizes of 4.8 – 5.1 cm (1.5 – 2 in) not including legspan and 6 inches if we include their legs, while as males are half their sizes. This species of spiders are known for the impressive golden webs they weave. As far as interactions with humans is concerned, you should know that they don’t really present a threat, well, maybe they do but just a little for your rose bushes, cause they like to “design” their webs near homes, but think of it as a good thing, they’re natural pest eaters, they can eat annoying fruit flies for desert, and save you a lot of money off insecticides.

In fact, instead fearing these spiders, you might like to know that their silk has very great potential in medicine! The chemicals in the web have a very high biocompatibility rate, and researchers are developing a way to use Nephila edulis silk as a suitable guiding material for peripheral nerve regrowth. Sounds promising!

Now, besides pests, these spiders have also been known to eat birds… have a look at the picture below.

11. Tenenaria parietin a 5.5 inches spider

Pretty creepy isn’t he? This awesome creature is quite rare nowadays, it’s found in Northern Africa but also in Central Asia. In England, this scary 5.5 inch spider is also called the cardinal spider due to the fact that Cardinal Woolsey was extremely horrified by this species of arachnids. Now, it may seem small to you, but just imagine that this “little” fellow’s body is 7.5 cm long, and if we take in to account his length with his legs, the Tenenaria parietin is 14 centimeters long.


Written with love and coolness by on December 6, 2012 in Amazing Stuff
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    1. australian man says:

      I dont know about most of these species, but Wolf Spiders are about 5 centimeters maximum, not 25. Huntsmen (i always have a couple in my house at all times) are nowhere near 30centimeters – more like 12 tops. Makes me think this page is loaded with rubbish “facts”

      • tarantula dude says:

        you are wrong australian man. This article is correct, as wikipedia also says. The only thing you are right is the wolf spiders, which normally are not that huge, but since this is an website about amazing thing maybe there are some weird spiders who are like…mutant or something

      • crissa says:

        The facts in this article are based on research, and even if you can easily find out for yourself the lengths of these spiders, we will help you by providing a link towards articles where you can read about the lengths of the
        – Huntsman Spider: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntsman_spider
        We have replaced the Wolf Spider with the Camel Spider, a species a lot bigger than it.

    2. crissa says:

      As previously stated: the facts are based on research. Research means checking MORE than ONE source. When at least 3 reliable sources give the same lengths/data/information, I’m pretty sure anyone would agree that they’re accurate. The wikipedia link was given as the most accessible source to anyone.

    3. omg these spider are so descusting i dont even no why im looking at spiders im terrafied of them and when i see them i SCEAM AHHHHHHHAA:P

    4. sébastien says:

      The largest and most beautiful spider eastern Congo is not in your collection. It is colored black and bright yellow on its abdomen. He happens to catch small birds in its web. It’s too bad to associate science (Entomology) with sex. However, for a negro the last photo of Asian woman is crisper

    5. Edward says:

      “Now, besides pests, these spiders have also been known to eat birds… have a look at the picture below.”

      That doesn’t exactly look like ‘research’ from three well-respected sources to me. That’s a halloween prop. [facepalm]

    6. crissa says:

      @Edward: That is actually not a Halloween prop, so no facepalms are needed. Golden orb wavers do feed on snakes, and on birds, the picture is documented, it is not a hoax. There are many more pictures of golden orb weavers eating birds, we did our research, please do yours.

    7. Kaylie says:

      Heyo im Kaylie im just a child so dont hate, I think these spiders are amazing at the sizes they get, and wow they look beatutiful as much as they are terrifying!

    8. Lisa says:

      Paige is afraid of many things, including:
      -schools
      -books
      -especially dictionaries
      -the English language in general

      Seriously, how did some of you manage to pass the remedial math question to post a comment? James Cameron, we need to raise the bar!

    9. Lisa says:

      Anywho, I found this cool page after looking to see if the Angola Witch Spider was real or not. Thank God we DON’T have arachnids the size of a side of your house, I noped the hell outta that. I’d need a can of Raid the size of a bloomin’ fire extinguisher! XD Awesome and entertaining list, though I need to take a shower now, I feel crawly and fuzzy after that. bleh! Haha!

    10. Harry says:

      I once stepped on a wolf spider with about a 4 to 5 inch (10 to 12 cm) legspan in Maryland. The body was probably about an inch and a half (4 cm.) It made a pretty loud crunch. (I was 9 years old then.)

    11. Lis says:

      I live in Florida. Wolf spiders here get bigger than my hand, are very aggressive and have a nasty bite. I’m terrified of them!

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