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A warning about government testing on DNA that has produced giant mutant spiders in a laboratory in Missouri hit social media in September 2014: Although the accompanying images may be real, they aren't pictures of giant spiders, or of any other form of arachnid (mutant or otherwise). What's shown here is the Birgus latro, otherwise known as a coconut crab (or robber crab, ganjo crab, and palm thief). A species of hermit crab, the coconut crab (so named because their claws are powerful enough to enable them to crack open and eat coconuts, and they will reportedly climb trees to pick coconuts when none are more readily available) is the world's largest terrestrial arthropod and can grow to achieve a leg span of up to three feet: As noted in a December 2013 Wired feature on the coconut crab, this arthropod takes a very long time to grow to its full size, its natural habitat is tropical climes far from the Midwestern state of Missouri, and the species is being threatened by human encroachment:
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