Frightening footage shows '16-legged' creature - but can you guess what it is?
An incredible video of an alien-like spider removing its skin to reveal a fresh coat has surfaced online.
Sandra Adaway, of Sebastopol near Ballarat, filmed the huntsman spider carefully removing its exo-skeleton and shared it on Facebook.
Ms Adaway said she found the spider hanging from her backdoor, and with her son’s help, carefully moved it and placed it in a plastic container.
In a seven-minute video, the spider removes the last bit of its exo-skeleton as it hangs around the tips of its eight legs.
A trail from its spinneret remains attached to the exo-skeleton. It gives one final push and springs free from its old skin, which hangs lifeless. The spider also lays still, looking dead.
Ms Adaway’s son tries to remove the exo-skeleton and the spider springs to action, hopping onto all eight legs.
The video has since received more than 15,500 shares with many Facebook users marvelling at watching the spider’s lifecycle.
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“Wow! What amazing footage! Would have been a tad nervous myself- appreciate their beauty but have a healthy respect for not touching,” one user commented.
“That's incredible, but so scary! Thanks for filming this!” another said.
According to Museums Victoria, spiders shed their exoskeleton to grow. Some do it several times in their lives becoming fractionally bigger.
