# Giant tarantula discovered **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 4, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-tarantula-discovered/654861 "2013-04-04T21:13:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-tarantula-discovered/654861/1 "2013-04-04T21:13:35Z")
[Scientists have found an enormous, previously unknown, species of venomous spider in a remote Sri Lankan village.](http://news.sky.com/story/1073751/tarantula-the-size-of-a-human-face-discovered) > [@](#): > > The giant tarantula is as big as a human face. > > Its legs, which have unique daffodil-yellow markings, span a massive 20cm (eight inches). The arachnid also has a distinctive pink band around its body. > > The new species was found in the war-torn north of the South Asian country by scientists from Sri Lanka’s Biodiversity Education and Research (BER) organisation. > > It has been named Poecilotheria rajaei, in recognition of a senior police officer called Michael Rajakumar Purajah, who guided the research team through a hazardous jungle overrun by civil unrest in order to seek out the spider. Guess which island has just been scrubbed off my list of holiday destinations! ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-tarantula-discovered/654861/2 "2013-04-04T21:31:35Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > The giant tarantula is as big as a human face. Which lucky camper woke up to discover that fact? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-tarantula-discovered/654861/3 "2013-04-04T21:43:52Z")
> [@Battle\_Pope](#): > > Which lucky camper woke up to discover that fact? :eek: Probably the one who had to dash to the river bank to clean their rather soiled shorts. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-tarantula-discovered/654861/4 "2013-04-04T21:46:16Z")
A few years ago I lucked onto a Tarantula migration. I saw hundreds of them over about a 5 mile stretch, crossing the highway (two lane) making their way toward white sands missile range. There must have been thousands of them in the “herd”. Turns out Tarantulas have a pretty low wind tolerance. They were getting picked up and tumbled by the wake of passing cars. I stopped and helped a few across. Turns out I am a little skittish around them. ---
**Author:** ![PurpleClogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@PurpleClogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleClogs)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-tarantula-discovered/654861/5 "2013-04-04T22:04:45Z")
Very cool! I’ve only come across one in the “wild”. If you can call a street in our neighborhood wild (Houston, TX). We were driving home from somewhere and a big one was just walking across the street. We stopped, got out and were looking at it. Cars were passing and a couple others stopped. When I got home I did some research and found out the males will wander around looking for a female in a hole. So he was cruising for some sexytime! My father grew up in Corpus Christi and tells stories of how he had to scoop them out of the pool in the mornings. If the garbage men were driving by at the time he would lob them up and over the fence and laugh when they shouted profanities at him. ---
**Author:** ![Ms.Pumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@Ms.Pumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms.Pumpkin)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-tarantula-discovered/654861/6 "2013-04-04T22:41:28Z")
No. Nonononono. I did not just read that, I did not just see that, and I will NOT have nightmares tonight involving giant furry face-sized bugs. Nope. Didn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-tarantula-discovered/654861/7 "2013-04-04T22:42:41Z")
:eek: Why did I click on the link! Why??? Why??? Why???:eek: ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-tarantula-discovered/654861/8 "2013-04-04T23:03:31Z")
> [@Kevbo](#): > > A few years ago I lucked onto a Tarantula migration. I saw hundreds of them over about a 5 mile stretch, crossing the highway (two lane) making their way toward white sands missile range. :eek: Hordes of giant, furry spiders…_with missiles!_ ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-tarantula-discovered/654861/9 "2013-04-04T23:14:02Z")
You folks did note that these things were moving into old houses because of loss of habitat right? So, so these cute little guys are going to be brought over here by tear ran tulla enthusiasts and of course some will escape. Then they will start breeding in your walls. Detroit will be the first to fall. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-tarantula-discovered/654861/10 "2013-04-04T23:33:20Z")
Is it just me or are there pictures of 2 completely different tarantulas in that article? Most of the pics show a grayish tan and black spider, while one pic shows a black one with yellow bands on the legs and what not. Are they different sexes of the same species? Or is the latter picture of the bottom of one, whit it looking completely different than the top? ---
**Author:** ![Hermione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cdc98d/32.png) [@Hermione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermione)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-tarantula-discovered/654861/11 "2013-04-05T00:14:34Z")
One of my college professors, who had lived a while in Sri Lanka, described spiders as big as kittens. (He said that one of the more unsettling experiences of his life was to sit with his back to a wall talking to someone…and see the face of the person he was talking to suddenly change to horror and revulsion as they looked at the wall behind him…) My conclusion at the time? “I wouldn’t last five minutes in Sri Lanka.” Well, this only confirms it. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-tarantula-discovered/654861/12 "2013-04-05T00:33:46Z")
Mother Nature _sucks_. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-tarantula-discovered/654861/13 "2013-04-05T01:14:15Z")
> [@thirdname](#): > > Is it just me or are there pictures of 2 completely different tarantulas in that article? Most of the pics show a grayish tan and black spider, while one pic shows a black one with yellow bands on the legs and what not. Are they different sexes of the same species? Or is the latter picture of the bottom of one, whit it looking completely different than the top? I was going to ask this too. Only one pic matches the description, and the other pictures appear unrelated. While the pic that matches does show the underside, and the others don’t, I think the one looks rounder and chunkier, whereas the others are more leggy and have more elongated body parts. The last thing I want to have to do whenever I come across one of these is to try to do the research right then and there. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-tarantula-discovered/654861/14 "2013-04-05T01:21:17Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > :eek: > > Hordes of giant, furry spiders…_with missiles!_ Wasn’t that a minor plot point in the second act of _Eight-Legged Freaks_? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-tarantula-discovered/654861/15 "2013-04-05T02:35:48Z")
> [@](#): > > The giant tarantula is as big as a human face. > > Its legs, which have unique daffodil-yellow markings, span a massive 20cm (eight inches). The arachnid also has a distinctive pink band around its body. A distinctive pink band? Dear God, are there other giant tarantulas out there? ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-tarantula-discovered/654861/16 "2013-04-05T02:43:39Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > A distinctive pink band? > > Dear God, are there other giant tarantulas out there? Yes, and they don’t even support breast cancer research. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-tarantula-discovered/654861/17 "2013-04-05T02:51:47Z")
Its the big ones that stayed at a Holiday Inn Express you really need to watch out for. Devious bastards they are. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-tarantula-discovered/654861/18 "2013-04-05T05:26:53Z")
At least they’re not red band tarantulas. Those are the ones that swear. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-tarantula-discovered/654861/19 "2013-04-05T05:44:52Z")
> [@Battle\_Pope](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > The giant tarantula is as big as a human face. > > Which lucky camper woke up to discover that fact? :eek: “The same one who found out where they lay their eggs”, to paraphrase someone on another forum. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-tarantula-discovered/654861/20 "2013-04-05T10:40:04Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > I was going to ask this too. Only one pic matches the description, and the other pictures appear unrelated. While the pic that matches does show the underside, and the others don’t, I think the one looks rounder and chunkier, whereas the others are more leggy and have more elongated body parts. > > The last thing I want to have to do whenever I come across one of these is to try to do the research right then and there. I was wondering the same thing. The caption under one of the grey ones says it is a male one, so maybe the one with yellow and pink 80s-style accessories is female? Which is odd, as usually it’s the males of critters that are brighter and showier than the females, at least when it comes to birds and such. Maybe spiders are different… Or are the colours only on the underside? Also, what’s up with this statement? > [@](#): > > “They prefer well-established old trees, but due to deforestation the number have dwindled and due to lack of suitable habitat they enter old buildings.” So, it’s a newly discovered species, but they know its numbers have dwindled? Riiiight. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-tarantula-discovered/654861.md?page=2)