The Gen-X-Ray A critical examination of the world through Gen X eyes

Giant spider not quite extinct

From Scientific American

"It was surprising to find a giant female Nephila from South Africa in the collection …that did not match any of the described species," Matjaz Kuntner, who is now chair of the Institute of Biology of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts and coauthor of the paper, said in a prepared statement.

One of the largest orb-weaving spiders had remained hidden from entomologists in plain sight. The new species of giant golden orb weaver (Nephila komaci), which builds meter-wide webs, entangled a doctoral student who stumbled upon a specimen in a museum collection.

Yeech. I've never liked spiders. I've learnt to tolerate them and not kill them on sight and I accept that they are useful and beautiful creatures, but they are still unnatural and thoroughly EVIL.  Any spider that can entrap a full grown student in its web is a spider that SHOULD NOT BE!