Freaky face-sized tarantula discovered in Sri Lanka

SRI LANKA (PIX11) – Spiders have long had a reputation of being creepy and straight up frightening, but now we’ve reached a new stage in the game. Enter: Poecilotheria rajaei – a face-sized tarantula.


This newly discovered freak of nature was recently spotted in northern Sri Lanka. That’s where one reportedly scared the living crap out of patients at a local hospital when it just moseyed on in.

Also known as the “Tiger Spider,” the tarantula is described as being the size of a human face with legs that can span up to 8 inches across.

The creepy crawler was first discovered during a survey in Sri Lanka led by Ranil Nanayakkara, co-founder of Sri Lanka’s Biodiversity Education and Research.

According to the Peter Kirk, the editor who first wrote about the creature in the British Tarantula Society journal, the species prefer hanging out in old trees, “but due to deforestation the number have dwindled and due to lack of suitable habitat they enter old buildings.”

A bit of advice: when you’re on that vacation in Sri Lanka this summer, avoid old trees and old buildings — and just about anything old and creepy looking.