One eerie-looking spider that has a 'day-glow' abdomen with odd markings on it looks rather like a green alien from Mars. A number of images of the spider on Russian websites threw people into a panic that it could be a poisonous monster from outer space that had been sent to conquer the Earth.
The spider was found in Penza in Russia's Oblast region. The little town of 520,000 residents had almost everyone in a panic mode.
A photograph of the man in whose house the spider was found got circulated to members, with the warning that the spider was "predatory, poisonous and dangerous."
However, zoologist Oleg Polumordvinov entered the picture to soothe nerves. He said that the spider was a flower crab spider, and belonged to a species just about 6mm long.
It seems to be related to the spider with the Latin name Ebrechtella tricuspidata, which looks rather like this one.
Found regularly in woods during the fall, the spiders consume only flies - nothing more. However, they do not bite human skin, he said. Believing that it must have got into someone's house by accident, he said it did not give cause to panic.
"Just catch it and release it onto the street. There is nothing else to do here," he quipped.
One resident of Penza also did not find it dangerous. In a message, he said: "This spider is definitely not poisonous, I used to eat those when I was a kid. You are good."
