A giant spider, almost the size of a softball, has been found in an abandoned mine in Baja California. The arachnid has been classified as Califorctenus cacachilensis, since it was found in Sierra Cacachilas Mountain Range.
According to The Los Angles Times, it is thanks to the efforts of two Natural History Museum researchers - Michael Wall and Jim Berrian - based in San Diego that this new softball-sized species of spider could be discovered. This exciting find was published in the journal "Zootaxa".
The ABC News website reports that those suffering from arachnophobia (fear of spiders) can breathe easy, since Berrian thinks, "... it's a really pretty spider." This softball-sized spider is certainly pretty, if hairy inch-long body, thick fang-like structures and eight hairy legs spreading four inches all around its huge body can be considered pretty!
Even the color of the softball-sized spider is a striking combination of browns and yellows. It has chocolate brown head and legs, and dull yellow abdomen, which gives it a dull hue, ideal for its habitat.
Finding this big softball-sized spider was no chance discovery. Berrian had already noticed the shed exoskeletons of this spider in a grotto in the Cacachilas in 2013. He just waited for the opportunity to get hold of a live specimen.
Despite the ignorance of the ranchers living in the area regarding the presence of this spider, Berrian and Wall continued their search and finally succeeded. They had focused on this softball-sized spider's natural habitat, that is, dark and dingy places that remained perpetually undisturbed. The elusive spider was eventually found in an abandoned mine shaft for the first time.
Is this a rare find? According to Wall, finding this new softball-sized spider is actually no big deal. This species is one of the estimated four million species of insects and spiders in the world that await identification and naming, so the odds of encountering a new species is always high.
So, what makes this find so special? It is the huge size of this spider, which almost compares with that of tarantula. This has not only got the scientists interested, but has also set the media abuzz with excitement.
