Ball-sized monster spiders spotted in abandoned mines in Mexico (photo)

In caves and abandoned mines in Mexico, spiders that are almost the size of a softball were found. Its legs only are 15 centimeters long.

According to IFLScience, these spiders are poisonous, the bite affects the nervous system and is fatal. These "traveling spiders" Califorctenus cacachilensis are nocturnal. They do not weave webs, but simply run to catch their prey.

"Perhaps the most impressive 'miner's spider' is a species that was first identified in an abandoned mine in southern Baja California, Mexico. It was found after a hollow husk was discovered," the publication writes.

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Jim Berrian, an entomologist at the San Diego Museum of Natural History, noted that the spider's exoskeleton was found in cracks between rocks.

"The exoskeleton was abnormally large, and I could tell by the pattern of the eyes that it was in a group of spiders, traveling spiders from the Ctenidae family, with very few species in Baja California," the scientist explained.

After the scientists examined the spider's exoskeleton, they found out that it belonged to the Sierra Cacachilas spider species, or Califorctenus cacachilensis, which are related to the poisonous Brazilian traveling spider Phoneutria fera. Jim Berrian says he was bitten by one Califorctenus during the study. "We didn't analyze the toxicity of the venom, but most traveling spiders are not as dangerous as Brazilian traveling spiders," he explained.

What the venom lacks in strength, he says, it makes up for in size. With a leg span of about 10 centimeters and a short, stocky body 2.5 centimeters high, its unfolded dimensions are roughly similar to a softball.

The scientist says that given that the mine where the spider was found was not always abandoned, it means that miners once "lived next to these giants."

Earlier, biologists from the University of Georgia, who studied the reaction of different spider species to stress factors, found out which spider is the most "shy".

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