Arania Exumai

Pronunciation: ah-rahn-ee-a eks-su-may
Description: The Spider-killing Curse is a spell used to kill or, at least, blast back Acromantulas or other large spider species.
Seen/Mentioned: Harry uses this in the Forbidden Forest against the attacking Acromantulas in the film version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. He learned this from Tom Marvolo Riddle, who attempted to use it against Aragog in the memory Harry visits.
Etymology: From the Latin aranea, meaning "spider", and exuo, meaning "I lay aside".

 

I had to Google back to find out what the exact spell was, but I actually did a Ron Weasley the moment when my fellow photographers, who were a few feet ahead of me, spotted this giant spider first. Indeed, he was the same size as Aragog. Just kidding.

 

-=o0o=- -=o0o=- -=o0o=- -=o0o=- -=o0o=- -=o0o=- -=o0o=- -=o0o=- -=o0o=-

 

Another Google search, and I think that this could be Nephila pilipes which is a species of the golden orb-web spider. Wikipedia tells me that the Females are large and grow to a body size of 30-50mm, with males growing to 5–6 mm; but I’m sure that this one looked a little longer than 5cm.

 

ISO 400 | f/9 | 1/10 sec | Flash Fired, 85mm @ –1 EV, ETTL  for fill | Canon 100 mm USM |

 

-=o0o=- -=o0o=- -=o0o=- -=o0o=- -=o0o=- -=o0o=- -=o0o=- -=o0o=- -=o0o=-

 

On a lighter note, I was curious about what is the largest spider in the world and stumbled upon this.