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FAMILY SPARASSIDAE - Huntsman Spiders
- This page contains pictures and information about Huntsman Spiders that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
- Photo: Keith Power, Toowoomba
Huntsman Spiders are medium to large spiders, usually with flat body. The spiders have crab-like legs and they can walk sideway. Their front legs are usually much longer than back. They run fast, hunts by chasing after prey. They have eight eyes in two rows of four.
- Brown Huntsman Spider
- Heteropoda jugulans, leg to leg 70mm
- The body and the hairy legs are brown in colour. Notice the 'X' mark on carapace (small photo). This spider does not build webs but hunts on the ground. Sometimes they will come indoors and run around on our walls and ceilings. I took these two pictures within two days in the same spot, during early summer at night in our back yard. This Huntsman Spider has been waiting in the same spot for many days. The above photos show the Brown Huntsman Spider waiting for its prey and then it successfully catch its prey. It is believe that the coming and going of insects put down scent trails that the Huntsman Spider can pick up.
- Grey Huntsman Spider
- ?sp., leg to leg 50mm
- This Grey Huntsman Spider has a Y-shaped pattern on its back.
- Shield Huntsman Spider
- Neosparassus sp., leg to leg 80mm
- We found this Shield Huntsman Spider (also know as badge huntsman spider) in a shelter made by silk and leaves on a gum tree. The spider is pale brown in colour, no marking on the thorax.
- Giant Green Huntsman Spider
- Typostola sp., leg to leg 80mm
- Pictures taken in Karawatha forest during mid summer. Notice its front two pairs of legs are much longer than tha back. Click here for more pictures and information on this spider.
- Giant Huntsman Spiders
- Typostola sp., leg to leg 100mm
- We found this Giant Huntsman Spider in a forest near Wivenhoe Lake. It was hiding under the lose bark of a gum tree. Its thorax was round and brown in colour, with a 'X' mark on its carapace. The spider had a flatten body. The abdomen was dark brown with black pattern. Its legs were thick, dark brown in colour became black colour in the tips. Its two pairs of forelegs were much longer than its two pairs of hind legs. Its pair of the chelicerae were shiny black in colour. It ran very fast. After I took this picture, it ran away up to the gum tree and disappeared in a second.
- Young Huntsman Spiders
- ? sp., leg to leg 10mm
