While huntsman spiders, fortunately, prefer insects to humans, their bites have traumatized plenty. From insects to invertebrates, they clamp down with their jaws (chelicerae) - and inject their venom into victims. These critters are nocturnal, crawling out of their tropical or forested hideouts to kill when the sun has set. They are sometimes called giant crab spiders or wood spiders because they. More fascinating than huntsman spiders mating, of course, is how they kill their prey. Huntsman spiders are renowned for their enormous size, with males able to achieve a leg span of between 10 and 12 inches. Those of a Heteropoda venatoria are about an inch wide and hold more than 200 eggs. While most spiders die within a year, huntsman spiders generally triple that lifespan, though males usually die before females lay their egg sacs. Both partners coexist peacefully afterward, for weeks or even months. In a process that lasts between one to eight hours, the male alternates between palpi to reproduce. Males commonly take up with females that have yet to reach maturity, guarding them closely until they do - and then inserting their palpi into the epigynum. They seek out females by the pheromones they’ve left behind and then use their stomachs to make vibrations to signal the female back. Entomological News 48: 160-161.Wikimedia Commons A feasting huntsman spider. The use of a headlight in collecting nocturnal spiders. A prospective study of 750 definite spider bites, with expert spider identification. Instead, it runs frighteningly fast across the ground immobilizing its. This arachnid can be as small as an inch and grow to nearly a foot wide in some species. NatureServe Explorer: Heteropoda venatoriaīugwood Network Images: Heteropoda venatoria References The huntsman spider is an efficient and calculating predator, and the giant variety is the longest spider species on Earth by leg span. Fortunately, the huntsman spider does not share the same poisonous features and threat as the brown recluse Spider. The huntsman spider is often mistaken for the brown recluse spider ( Loxosceles reclusa) due to the shared color and markings. In areas where temperatures are mostly above freezing, the Huntsman Spider can be found away from man-made structures in avocado groves, or areas where it can find food. It can be found hidden behind structures in houses, barns, or greenhouses. Habitat: This species is restricted to warmer climates, and can't survive outside during sub-freezing temperatures. With a preference to tropical climates, the Huntsman Spider has become established in southern states and spread around the Gulf Coast region as well as California. on banana shipments from Central America. However, it is hypothesized to have been transported to the U.S. The huntsman spider is believed to have originated in Asia where its closest relatives are found. The huntsman spider relies on speed to capture prey and injects poison into insects from the chelicerae rather than a web for trapping. Will be found indoors over winter under furniture or cabinets, behind wall hangings, and inside closets and garages. Habitat: Cannot exist in freezing weather. The female huntsman spider carries the egg sac beneath the abdomen containing about 200 eggs rendering the female nearly motionless due to the size of the egg sac (1.5 cm diameter). Characteristics: Flattened body, long legs with distinctive black spots, and black border around the head. This spider does not use a web to capture prey and is ideal for management of cockroaches and similar indoor pests. The huntsman spider is not poisonous, but if handled aggressively it will issue a painful bite. Larva Description: Juvenile huntsman spiders look similar to that of the adult with no type of metamorphosis required for growth to maturation. Both sexes display black spots on the legs at the base of erectile macroseta, which is the only part of the spider with noticeable hair. Males have longer legs, longitudinal bands on the abdomen, and a cream band on the carapace. Females have an overall brown body and a larger abdomen with a tan marginal band on the carapace. Adult Description: The huntsman spider ( Heteropoda venatoria) also called the giant crab spider or banana spider, is 20-23 mm in length with female's body length at the upper range compared to males.
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