Sometimes achieving the impressive size of black bears, Giant Spiders (Magnus Pholcidae) send shivers down the spine of anyone who witness their scurrying gate...Covered in short thick bristle-like hairs, Giant Spiders are a wonderment of evolution... Unlike most ground dwelling spiders, Giant Spiders (which go by many different names depending on the locals involved) are not solely dependant upon venom nor fast speed to subdue their prey (take not, Giant Spiders ARE venomous, but like most other species the larger a creature is the less potency it's venom has, being but severly painful when inflicted on Humans and other hominid races)... Instead, surprisingly, almost all species of Giant Spiders are web spinning spiders, much like their dimunitive relations reknown for their glistening, silk fashioned webs...Unlike their smaller cousins though, Giant Spiders have evolved three unique methods of securing food items with their highly specialized construction... First, Giant Spiders have an upturned abdomen, which sits almost horizontal upon their Cephalothorax (all other species of Spiders abdomens lie length wise behind the Cephalothorax)...This allows the Spiders to shoot webbing at anything within their range of vision (and with eight eyes, You can imagine the range I'm sure)...The second speciality in it's evolution is the webbing itself...Like all Spiders, the webbing itself resides in the an organ which manufactures it, located in the creatures abdomen...But unlike other species of Pholcidae, Giant Spiders have evolved a thin skin like film that coats the webbing as it's released from the body...This film is provided by a unique organ located just before the Spinnerettes opening...As the webbing is released it is coated, saving it from hardening as it's subjected to open air tempratures...But this "skin" is extremely thin (meer micromillimeters thick in fact) and when the webbing finds it's mark, be it Prey or what have You, the skin is then broken, allowing the webbing to expand as it's liquid mass splatters upon impact...It may sound rather crude...But I've witnessed this wonder of nature more than once, and have seen valiant, seemingly unstoppable warriors rendered moot and helpless within seconds of one successful aim by these creatures...
The third and final adaptation that allows Giant Spiders to take large (sometimes very large) prey are their pedapalps...Where most spiders have rather small pedipalps (compared to their relative body size), Giant Spiders have enormous ones, literally riveling their own leg size in some species documented...These Pedipalps have evolved into a set of slightly hooked grasping limbs, easily strong enough in their own right to clutch successfully webbed prey and drag it back to their nest for later consumption...
Another unique characteristic of this species seems to be their communal nature...Unlike most other species of Arachnidia, the female Giant Spiders are known for making communal nests, in which they help each other secure food and jointly guard their large egg sacs (sometimes found as large as prized Pumpkins)...This actually serves them well it would seem, for most hamlets and towns near any assemblence of wilderness are quite used to having encounters with Giant Spiders...