I am Czech and live in California and I have to say: the Czech spiders are NOTHING compared to the spiders here...THEY ARE DISGUSTING! Huge and fat and their cobwebs spread from across the street!
you should see our cockroaches here in Florida - 250mm long and they can fly! They can eat those California spiders for lunch.
A 10-inch-long bug? I don't think so, probably some mistake during US->SI units conversion, at least I hope so. Can you imagine smashing a bug of this size - you would have to repaint half of your kitchen! Anyway, this is probably the one thing I like about winter, no annoying insects but I guess you can "enjoy" them all the year in CA/FL.
The ones you really have to worry about are the barking spiders. They are particularly bad in the South--probably all the Mexican food.
I have a spider story. When I was about 5 yrs old - growing up in Czech - I picked this juicy strawberry. All of a sudden I felt this tingling sensation in my mouth...I spit it up and - there is this huge, green - still MOVING - spider on the palm of my hand!!! For anyone who knows the Czech spiders, it was "krizak". Krizaks are one our bigger spiders, their body is green and they have a white cross on their backs (hence the name "Krizak" which means "Crossman"). That's where I hate spiders from...it scared me for life..
The biggest European beetle is Lucanus cervus (Stag Beetle), a 90 mm long innoxious hexapod slowly flying at twilight that is now very rare (the beetle not twilight, of course), you can hardly see it :cry: .
:lol: :lol: :lol: "A highly elusive nocturnal species of spider mainly from the Tennessee area (also known as the Tennessee Barking Spider). While no live specimens have been caught in order to be studied, this is the only spider known to man with the capability to "bark". These spiders are attracted by the scent of bratwurst and sauerkraut and also been known to emerge on taco tuesdays. While you may not see them, you will hear them and at times feel them scurrying through the couch cushions. They do use a foul odor as a defensive mechanism. Beware the silent Tennessee barking spider, it is a deadly sub-species and should be avoided at all costs." However, the spider itself is not elusive: The Barking spider (Selenocosmia crassipes) is a species of tarantula native to the east coast of Queensland, Australia. Phlogius Sp. Crassipes can attain legspans reaching lengths of up to 8"(20 cm) with a few specimens reaching 22 cm with body measurements from 7-9 cm, and has been described as Australia's largest spider. The young spiders burrow under rocks or roots; in adults, these burrows can reach a length of up to two meters and are lined with much silk. The adult males look very different from the females. They commonly prey on insects and small vertebrates such as frogs, mice, and lizards. There are two species in Australia closely related to Phlogius Crassipes, being Phlogius Sp. 'Sarina' and Phlogius Sp. 'Eunice'. Both tarantulas can attain legspans of 7 - 8 inches, with Sp. Crassipes boasting the thickest build followed by Sp. Eunice and Sp . Sarina the thinnest. It is often confused with Phlogiellus species, and these are often sold in petshops as S. crassipes. The species name crassipes is Latin for "fat leg". It is called "barking spider" because it "hisses" (stridulates) when disturbed, which it shares with nearly all Australian tarantulas (except some Phlogiellus species). (Quoted from Wikipedia)
I love to play with the tarantulas here in West Texas while wearing my leather gloves of course. Once they latch on to you with their fangs they do not like to turn loose of you. Even though they have venom it is not of too much concern. The bite itself is worse than the venom. With that being said they are still fun to play with. I let one go and he cralled up my pants leg in a real hurry, so I grabbed him with my glove again and put him in a tree. They can cover ground in a real hurry. It is only the male tarantula that I get to play with, they are searching for a female mate. The females are down in a deep hole about 1 foot down. I tried to lure some out, but once they see me at the surface you can forget it. Down deep they go. Dadgum spider all I want to do is get a good look at you, then turn you back loose. :roll: :roll: :roll:
Animal, you are crazy!!!!!!! There was a baby mouse in my cube today (at the office) and I was on my desk faster than you can say spider. Not to mention that I was yelling for someone to come rescue me while on the phone with a business associate. :shock:
Animal is not the only one - I let a tarantula crawl using a hand-over-hand motion on me for about 5 minutes last time I was in Costa Rica (about two months ago) - very delicate creatures - you have to be careful not to drop them, a high fall can kill them.
I wanted to post "at least we know the way how to kill them" but I was affraid of "conservationists"? here in this phorum. :wink: But as I see I am not the only one, so I changed my mind. Let them fall. :twisted: I don't like spiders (all sizes and species).
