# What kind of gigantic spider is in this picture? \[WARNING: Picture of gigantic spider.\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 24, 2009, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gigantic-spider-is-in-this-picture-warning-picture-of-gigantic-spider/504090 "2009-07-24T05:52:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![xanthous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/53a042/32.png) [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gigantic-spider-is-in-this-picture-warning-picture-of-gigantic-spider/504090/21 "2009-07-24T17:33:26Z")
> [@Iggins](#): > > [Obligatory link of Orb Spider capturing bird.](http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/giant-spider-devouring-bird/13547) _WARNING_ Spider Larger Than King Crab… 🙂 I think I have PTSD now. \ ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gigantic-spider-is-in-this-picture-warning-picture-of-gigantic-spider/504090/22 "2009-07-24T17:38:18Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Probably, with a reliable food source. If one lived next to a Dickensian orphanage, for example. 😉 Or a stone’s throw from Cirith Ungol. :: also shudders :: ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gigantic-spider-is-in-this-picture-warning-picture-of-gigantic-spider/504090/23 "2009-07-24T17:40:53Z")
Golden-web spiders of similar size are quite common here in Panama. Walking into their webs, which are quite tough, is a bit of a hazard if you are the first one down a trail in the morning. They have their uses though. When pestered by hovering horseflies, I try to find a web and stand next to it until the flies make a wrong turn and get snared. ---
**Author:** ![spywholoved](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spywholoved/32/10368_2.png) [@spywholoved](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spywholoved)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gigantic-spider-is-in-this-picture-warning-picture-of-gigantic-spider/504090/24 "2009-07-24T21:25:47Z")
Holy Cow. I remember scuttling spiders in the Philippines that were about this size, but even though they were lightning fast they were pretty wussy and didn’t have webs to speak of. By contrast this looks like an armored tank suspended in steel cable. Yikes. ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gigantic-spider-is-in-this-picture-warning-picture-of-gigantic-spider/504090/25 "2009-07-24T21:33:24Z")
There was a series of BC comic strips a while ago, wherein the bird and turtle kept wondering why in hell anything would need **eight** legs. 😃 Seeing that shot of the spider capturing a bird, I guess that explain it. \ ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gigantic-spider-is-in-this-picture-warning-picture-of-gigantic-spider/504090/26 "2009-07-24T21:35:17Z")
> [@filling\_pages](#): > > Oh, sure, around here we call them banana spiders, and they’re everywhere. Giant yellow beasts with huge webs. Luckily, they’re not harmful to people, just unpleasant if you walk into them in the middle of the night when you’re out catching your mom’s dang yorkie dog that’s made an escape while you were bringing your laundry in to do while housesitting. > > Not that I would know. Um, may I ask where you live? I’m sure you’re a lovely person, but I hope you don’t live near me. I just showed the pictures of this spider to my fourteen year old son. I told him that if I found one of these in the house, we were simply going to move. No packing, no getting our stuff, we’re just leaving. I’ll call the insurance agent and tell him that the house is a total loss. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gigantic-spider-is-in-this-picture-warning-picture-of-gigantic-spider/504090/27 "2009-07-24T21:41:24Z")
:eek: I’m a-loadin’ the shotgun! Obviously, there’s only [one](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCbfMkh940Q) thing to do here. ---
**Author:** ![Da\_ICON](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Da\_ICON](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Da_ICON)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gigantic-spider-is-in-this-picture-warning-picture-of-gigantic-spider/504090/28 "2009-07-25T01:10:23Z")
This thing is bigger than a Goliath Bird Eater, no??? Maybe not in weight/overall mass, but leg-span at least?? ---
**Author:** ![CupcakeQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ba8739/32.png) [@CupcakeQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CupcakeQueen)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gigantic-spider-is-in-this-picture-warning-picture-of-gigantic-spider/504090/29 "2009-07-25T03:51:34Z")
Is the spider in that photo really a golden orb spider? It doesn’t have any yellow on it…it has some red, though…at any rate, I now keep thinking that spiders are crawling on me! Thanks so much!! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gigantic-spider-is-in-this-picture-warning-picture-of-gigantic-spider/504090/30 "2009-07-25T04:42:36Z")
Gah! You see those a LOT here (Okinawa, so most of ya’ll are probably safe). Leg span of about 7-8 inches is pretty common. They do just kind of sit there in their webs, though. I’ve never seen one in the house–it’s the massive wolf spiders that are worse. I walked face first into one of those webs last year (luckily a smallish one–maybe 3" leg span) and much shrieking and swatting and hyperventilation ensued. Right now it’s spider season, and I just avoid the trails completely until they die off in the fall. 'Course, it’s too hot to hike anyway. Much fewer massive spiders at the beach. ---
**Author:** ![Spectralist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Spectralist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectralist)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gigantic-spider-is-in-this-picture-warning-picture-of-gigantic-spider/504090/31 "2009-07-25T06:15:32Z")
> [@CupcakeQueen](#): > > Is the spider in that photo really a golden orb spider? It doesn’t have any yellow on it…it has some red, though…at any rate, I now keep thinking that spiders are crawling on me! Thanks so much!! 🙂 If i recall correctly Golden Orb Weaver refers to the colour of the web, not the spider itself. Though i’ve no clue whether it’s a Golden Orb Weaver or not. ---
**Author:** ![snailboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@snailboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snailboy)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gigantic-spider-is-in-this-picture-warning-picture-of-gigantic-spider/504090/32 "2009-07-25T15:01:43Z")
But don’t forget, those spiders eat annoying pests, such as door-to-door salesmen. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gigantic-spider-is-in-this-picture-warning-picture-of-gigantic-spider/504090/33 "2009-07-25T15:50:35Z")
> [@Spectralist](#): > > If i recall correctly Golden Orb Weaver refers to the colour of the web, not the spider itself. Though i’ve no clue whether it’s a Golden Orb Weaver or not. True. They are also called just golden-web spiders. The name refers to any spider in the genus _Nephila_, which is found through much of the tropics and in some places into the subtropics (as in Florida). The one in the OP seems to be [_Nephila maculata_](http://pagebao.typepad.com/pagebao/DSCF1241.JPG), the largest of the genus, which ranges from Africa through Asia to Australia. The one here in Panama is [_Nephila clavipes_](http://www.canadianarachnology.org/data/canada_spiders/images/habitus/Nephila_clavipes.jpg), which ranges into the southern US. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gigantic-spider-is-in-this-picture-warning-picture-of-gigantic-spider/504090/34 "2009-07-25T16:04:56Z")
They mostly come at night. mostly ---
**Author:** ![kapntoad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@kapntoad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapntoad)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gigantic-spider-is-in-this-picture-warning-picture-of-gigantic-spider/504090/35 "2009-07-26T00:47:14Z")
You’re killing me, Zebra. I really want to vow that I will never leave the house again, but I’ve seen enough movies to know that if I do that, right after hitting “Post”, there’ll be one behind me. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gigantic-spider-is-in-this-picture-warning-picture-of-gigantic-spider/504090/36 "2009-07-26T02:00:36Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > . The one here in Panama is [_Nephila clavipes_](http://www.canadianarachnology.org/data/canada_spiders/images/habitus/Nephila_clavipes.jpg), which ranges into the southern US. Ugghhh We have those here in northern Florida. They get plenty big. Much of my wanderings through the woods are punctuated by occasional screaming and dancing… ---
**Author:** ![Xploder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a183cd/32.png) [@Xploder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xploder)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gigantic-spider-is-in-this-picture-warning-picture-of-gigantic-spider/504090/37 "2009-07-26T02:01:33Z")
Here’s a worse one [here](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://tejiendoelmundo.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/large-camel-spider.jpg&imgrefurl=http://tejiendoelmundo.wordpress.com/2009/01/20/la-arana-camello/&h=480&w=640&sz=41&tbnid=gbbcNSqq2IiuoM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcamel%2Bspider%2Bpictures&hl=en&usg=__hZdHRZMYs4wLr0QB_5IEoOFD8Bc=&ei=PrhrSpP5E5K2No727fgG&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=1&ct=image). During Desert Storm, I dropped a mechanics toolbox on one that was crawling across the floor of our tent right TOWARD me. In the morning, after I got off duty and went back to get some sleep, that giant thing was **crawling across the floor with the back half of it’s body missing.** BLEAH! I went and slept in my truck. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gigantic-spider-is-in-this-picture-warning-picture-of-gigantic-spider/504090/38 "2009-07-26T05:14:21Z")
> [@Xploder](#): > > Here’s a worse one [here](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://tejiendoelmundo.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/large-camel-spider.jpg&imgrefurl=http://tejiendoelmundo.wordpress.com/2009/01/20/la-arana-camello/&h=480&w=640&sz=41&tbnid=gbbcNSqq2IiuoM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcamel%2Bspider%2Bpictures&hl=en&usg=__hZdHRZMYs4wLr0QB_5IEoOFD8Bc=&ei=PrhrSpP5E5K2No727fgG&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=1&ct=image). That’s not actually a spider, but another kind of arachnid called a solpugid, or a sun scorpion or wind scorpion. ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gigantic-spider-is-in-this-picture-warning-picture-of-gigantic-spider/504090/39 "2009-07-26T05:26:29Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Ugghhh > > We have those here in northern Florida. They get plenty big. Much of my wanderings through the woods are punctuated by occasional screaming and dancing… Damn. Cancel my vacation to Tallahassee. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gigantic-spider-is-in-this-picture-warning-picture-of-gigantic-spider/504090/40 "2009-07-26T05:28:52Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Ugghhh > > We have those here in northern Florida. They get plenty big. Much of my wanderings through the woods are punctuated by occasional screaming and dancing… Personally, I think they’re beautiful. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gigantic-spider-is-in-this-picture-warning-picture-of-gigantic-spider/504090.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-gigantic-spider-is-in-this-picture-warning-picture-of-gigantic-spider/504090.md?page=3)