Avondale spider, our Hollywood star!

• In 1989/90, 374 Avondale spiders were sent to Hollywood to star in the Steven Spielberg movie Arachnophobia. Delena cancerides is harmless to humans, but it looks fearsome and therefore suited its movie role as a "killer spider".
• It has a body length of up to 30 mm, and its legs can span 200 mm.
• Avondale spiders live in colonies with their extended family and friends; no other spider in New Zealand has this lifestyle.

Pupils at New Lynn Primary School, West Auckland, having turns at handling a live Avondale spider, an Australian huntsman spider established in the Avondale region of Auckland since the 1920s. Photograph: Chris Hoult, Western Leader, 10 August 2000.

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