In the forests of South Africa lurks the world’s largest web-spinning spider, Nephila kowaci. It’s a giant among a family of giants. The male is no bigger than a large house spider but the female has a body that’s 3-4 centimetres long and legs that are each 7.5cm long. It was first discovered in 1978, but it took 25 years and several failed expeditions to find another, lying unsuspectingly in an Austrian museum. Three more were found shortly after in the wild.

More: World’s largest web-spinning spider discovered in South Africa