The Mystery Of Angolan Witch Spiders: Fact Or Fiction?

The Angolan Witch Spider is a hoax that went viral in 2011. Artist Paul Santa Maria created the image as a joke using Photoshop, after taking a picture of a wolf spider outside his Florida home. He posted the image on Facebook with the caption, Sure You Want To Move To Florida? The image was then shared by someone else online, who added the following description:

> It's a new spider called the Angolan Witch Spider. They migrated from South America. They primarily eat dogs and cats in Texas. This abnormally large spider was found on the side of this home. It took several gunshots to kill it.

Santa Maria told TruthOrFiction.com that he removed the image from the internet after about 20 hours, but not before it was picked up and circulated by others.

Artist Paul Santa Maria created the image as a joke

Artist Paul Santa Maria created the image of the Angolan Witch Spider as a joke. In 2011, Santa Maria, a Florida-based artist, photographer, and musician, took a photo of a wolf spider outside his home. He then spent 20 minutes editing the image in Photoshop, superimposing the spider onto a photo of the side of a friend's house to make it appear abnormally large.

Santa Maria uploaded the photo to his Facebook page, captioning it, "Sure You Want To Move To Florida?" Within hours, the image had gone viral, and an unknown person shared the image with a new caption:

> It's a new spider called the Angolan Witch spider. They migrated from South America. They primarily eat dogs and cats. In Texas, this abnormally large spider was found on the side of this home. It took several gunshots to kill it.

However, there is no such spider species in reality. The world's largest spiders are generally no larger than 12 inches in diameter and will typically fit into the hand of an adult male. Santa Maria himself came forward to clarify that the image was a hoax, and even provided a video explaining how he created the image.

The spider in the image is as large as half a house

The image in question first appeared online in 2011, posted by artist, photographer and musician Paul Santa Maria to his Facebook page. He had snapped a photo of a large wolf spider outside his Florida home and, through some creative Photoshopping, transformed the spider into a monster. The original image was captioned, "Sure You Want To Move To Florida?" and was intended as a joke.

However, once the image was shared online, it took on a life of its own. Someone else on the internet shared the image with an embellished description:

> It's a new spider called the Angolan witch spider. They migrated from South America. They primarily eat dogs and cats in Texas. This abnormally large spider was found on the side of this home. It took several gunshots to kill it.

And so, a hoax was born. The image went viral, spreading fear among arachnophobes worldwide. But rest assured, spider species do not grow to such massive sizes. The largest known spider species have a leg span of no more than 12 inches and can generally fit into the hand of an adult human. So, while the image of the giant spider may be frightening, it is not based on reality.

The spider was said to have migrated from South America

The Angolan Witch Spider, a creature of internet lore, is said to have migrated from South America. The image of this spider, purportedly the size of half a house, was shared on Facebook in 2011 by artist Paul Santa Maria. The image went viral, sparking fear in the hearts of arachnophobes everywhere. However, the spider is a hoax, a digital fabrication created by Santa Maria using a photo of a wolf spider he had taken outside his Florida home.

The image was shared with an embellished caption, stating:

> It's a new spider called the Angolan Witch Spider. They migrated from South America. They primarily eat dogs and cats in Texas. This abnormally large spider was found on the side of this home. It took several gunshots to kill it.

The image is indeed alarming, but thankfully, spiders don't get this large. The largest spiders in the world are only about as big as an adult human's hand. The Goliath birdeater tarantula, one of the world's largest spiders, measures 11 inches across and has inch-long fangs. It lives in the upland rainforests of South America and acquired its name from an illustration by pioneering naturalist/artist Maria Sibylla Marian in the early 1700s.

The Goliath birdeater tarantula's rival for the title of the world's biggest spider is the giant huntsman spider, which has a leg span of 12 inches. This cave-dweller was discovered in Laos in 2001, and there is still much to learn about this species.

While the Angolan Witch Spider may not be real, it serves as a reminder that the natural world is full of fascinating creatures, some of which are yet to be discovered.

It was rumoured to eat dogs and cats

The Angolan Witch Spider is not a real creature. It is a hoax created by artist Paul Santa Maria in 2011. Santa Maria created the image of the spider using Photoshop, after taking a photo of a wolf spider outside his Florida home. He uploaded the image to Facebook with the caption, "Sure You Want To Move To Florida?".

The image was soon shared by others on the internet, along with a new caption stating:

> It's a new spider called the Angolan Witch spider. They migrated from South America. They primarily eat dogs and cats in Texas. This abnormally large spider was found on the side of this home. It took several gunshots to kill it.

The image of the spider is almost as large as a house, but in reality, the largest spiders in the world are only about as big as an adult human's hand. The idea that the Angolan Witch Spider eats dogs and cats is, therefore, highly unlikely.

It took several bullets to kill the spider

The Angolan Witch Spider is not real. The image of the spider that went viral was created by artist Paul Santa Maria in 2011. He took a photo of a wolf spider he found outside his Florida home and used Photoshop to edit it into a monster.

The image was first uploaded with the caption, "Sure You Want To Move To Florida?" It was later shared with a new caption:

> It's a new spider called the Angolan Witch spider. They migrated from South America. They primarily eat dogs and cats in Texas. This abnormally large spider was found on the side of this home. It took several gunshots to kill it.

The image is fake, but if you're arachnophobic, the idea of a spider so large that it takes several bullets to kill probably doesn't sit well with you. Thankfully, spiders don't get this large. The largest spiders in the world are only about as big as an adult human's hand.

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