14 March 2024 , 09:51
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A massive venomous huntsman spider the "same size as a hand" was found in boxes shipped from China to the UK.
Skin-crawling pictures show the stowaway creepy-crawly after it was found in a warehouse. The spider species - among the biggest in the world - was found by a worker unpacking boxes from China with goods to be sent to customers in the UK. The worker said the find, at a warehouse in Oldham, Manchester, gave her a "heart attack".
She said: "The spider is the size of my child's hand. I found the spider in-between boxes - it was dead already squashed and dried. It was quite shocking to find such a creature where you wouldn't expect it to be. It gave me a heart attack - I was there with my husband and I jumped away and hid behind him."
"I would compare the size of it to the hand of my three-year-old. The body of it was the size of a car key. It gives me shivers just thinking about it." The spider was found on Tuesday, March 12, and the worker believed it had died during the month-long journey by sea from China.
The Huntsman spider found in a warehouse in Oldham (SWNS)Spider expert and owner of nearly 1,000 spiders, Aaron Phoenix, 36, said he believed the creature was a huntsman spider likely a heteropoda venatoria, native to tropical regions of the world. Huntsman spiders are among the biggest in the world with the biggest species coming in at nearly one foot (30 centimetres) in leg span.
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Heteropoda venatoria are not considered dangerous but carry enough venom to deliver a painful bite if provoked. Aaron said: "It's definitely a huntsman spider it looks like the heteropoda venatoria - a gorgeous spider. A lot of people get freaked out by these but they are actually harmless, just very quick. Fully grown, they have around a four-inch diagonal leg span."
"I've been sent pictures of these a few times by friends that work on the fruit market and at the airport. It's becoming very popular to hear of them coming over in cargo containers and fruit boxes."