In the UK, a poisonous spider with a "huge appetite" was discovered.
A nursery owner was shocked this week when one of Europe's biggest spiders was discovered in a shipment of olives from Spain.
Ankush Pandey
The venomous Spanish funnel-web spider, which has a "huge appetite," unexpectedly appeared in West Sussex following the unloading of a shipment of olives from Cordoba.
The owner of the nursery, who wished to remain anonymous, stated: "My son, who was operating the forklift, noticed it as he passed by." Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of it moving slowly across the yard. Something large just crossed the garden and went under a pot, he informed me over the phone.
Arachnologists quickly identified the spider as a Spanish funnel-web spider, or Macrothele calpeiana, after the father and son posted a picture of it on Facebook.
The British Arachnological Society described the species in 1989 as "Europe's largest spider" that becomes "aggressive" when disturbed. The animals are significantly larger than the typical British spider, reaching a maximum diameter of three inches.
"To be honest, we see bugs and spiders all the time because we are a nursery," the nursery owner continued. But how big?
That was all there was. It was truly remarkable.
Jack Casson, a Hartlepool spider enthusiast, has taken the spider in and claims that it creates intricate webs, with the entrance resembling a funnel, hence the name.
Webbing up her enclosure to make herself feel at home, the spider, who appears to be female, is settling in quite nicely.
She has consumed five crickets since I took her in, demonstrating her voracious appetite. Bessie is my girlfriend's name.
Despite being venomous, he said, the spider cannot kill people, though a bite would be extremely painful.
"I hope that people who read this will have a more positive perspective on spiders, as they are a very misunderstood species," he said.
There are no medically significant spiders in the UK, and a spider would never want to bite a human hundreds of times its own size. We're just not on the menu, and despite what many people think, spiders don't just go around biting people.
"Let the spider go about its business the next time you see it around your house." And express gratitude for the free pest control it offers by assisting in warding off the insects that genuinely look for people to feed on.
