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'Zombie' spiders infected by never-before-seen fungus discovered on grounds of destroyed Irish castleA new fungus that infects cave spiders and turns them into "zombies" was discovered in a Victorian gunpowder store at Castle Espie in Northern Ireland during filming for a TV show.
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Scientists discover rare venom-spraying scorpion in ColombiaNewly described scorpion can spray and inject its venom — the first South American species known to do this.
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'Big boy' spider becomes Australia's largest deadly funnel-web after surprise discoveryThe Sydney funnel-web spider has extremely dangerous venom, but according to a new study this spider is actually three different species — one of which, the "Newcastle big boy," is much larger.
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Giant funnel-web spider with fangs so big it could bite through a human fingernail arrives at Australian zooHemsworth, a colossal funnel-web spider recently donated to the Australian Reptile Park, could make significant contributions to the park's life-saving venom-milking program, keepers say.
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Hairy giant tarantula: The monster among mini tarantulas with 'feather duster' legsThe newly discovered tarantula Trichopelma grande has unusually hairy legs for a ground-dwelling species. It's also much bigger than its relatives — and scientists aren't sure why.
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Three remarkable spiders: A vegetarian, a vampire and a predator that uses 'pincer, fork and key'In this extract from "The Lives of Spiders: A Natural History of the World's Spiders," author Ximena Nelson examines three species of spider with unusual diets — plants, blood and pillbugs.
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Wolf spiders: Behavior, bites and other factsREFERENCE Wolf spiders are a large family of hairy and athletic arachnids that chase down prey on the ground rather than catching food in webs.
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We now know why tarantulas are hairy — to stop army ants eating them aliveTarantulas' hairy bodies protect against the scavenging, spider-eating army ants that clean their nests, scientists say.
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Brazilian wandering spiders: Bites & other factsBrazilian wandering spiders don't build webs but crawl on the forest floor at night in search of prey, which they kill with neurotoxic venom.
