Huntsman spiders, members of the family Sparassidae, are known by this name because of their speed and mode of hunting. They are also called giant crab spiders because of their size and appearance. Larger species sometimes are referred to as wood spiders, because of their preference for woody places. In southern Africa the genus Palystes are known as rain spiders or lizard-eating spiders. Commonly, they are confused with baboon spiders from the Mygalomorphae infraorder, which are not closely related.
Austracantha is a genus of spider with a single species, Austracantha minax, commonly known as the jewel spider or the Christmas spider. It is a member of the family Araneidae and is endemic to Australia. They are relatively small spiders, reaching a maximum total body length of only around 12 mm (0.47 in) for females, and 5 mm (0.20 in) for males. Their abdomen has six distinctive projections ("spines") that makes them easy to identify. They are predominantly a shiny black, with variable white, yellow, and orange patterns. Melanistic forms also occur during autumn. They are facultatively gregarious, and can be found in large aggregations of overlapping orb webs. They feed on small flying insects that get entangled in their webs. They are harmless to humans, though the webs can be a nuisance for bushwalkers. They are most abundant during the summer months.
Heteropoda venatoria is a species of spider in the family Sparassidae, the huntsman spiders. It is native to the tropical regions of the world, and it is present in some subtropical areas as an introduced species. Its common names include giant crab spider, or cane spider.
Actinopodidae is a family of mygalomorph orb weaver spiders found in mainland Australia and South America usually in open forest. Species are most common in Queensland, Australia. It includes mouse spiders, whose bites, though rare, are considered medically significant and potentially dangerous.
Abracadabrella is a genus of spiders in the family Salticidae whose spp. appear to mimics flies. The type species for the genus was described by Ludwig Koch (1879) as Marptusa elegans, transferred to Ocrisiona by Eugène Simon (1901) then placed into Abracadabrella by Marek Żabka (1991).
Heteropoda is a genus of spiders in the family Sparassidae, the huntsman spiders. They are mainly distributed in tropical Asia and Australia, while at least one species, H. venatoria, has a cosmopolitan distribution, and H. variegata occurs in the Mediterranean.
Trichonephila edulis is a species of large spider of the family Araneidae, formerly placed in the genus Nephila. It is referred to the common name Australian golden orb weaver. It is found in Indonesia from Java eastwards, Papua New Guinea, Australia, northern New Zealand, and New Caledonia.
The giant huntsman spider is a species of the huntsman spider family Sparassidae found in Laos. It is considered the world's largest spider by leg span, which can reach up to 30 cm (1 ft).
Heteropoda davidbowie is a species of huntsman spider of the genus Heteropoda. It was described from the Cameron Highlands District in peninsular Malaysia and named in honour of singer David Bowie.
Australia has a number of highly venomous spiders, including the Sydney funnel-web spider, its relatives in the family Hexathelidae, and the redback spider, whose bites can be extremely painful and have historically been linked with deaths in medical records. Most Australian spiders do not have venom that is considered to be dangerously toxic. No deaths caused by spider bites in Australia have been substantiated by a coronial inquest since 1979. There are sensationalised news reports regarding Australian spiders that fail to cite evidence. A Field Guide to Spiders of Australia published by CSIRO Publishing in 2017 featuring around 836 species illustrated with photographs of live animals, around 381 genera and 78 families, introduced significant updates to taxonomy from Ramirez, Wheeler and Dmitrov
Brown huntsman spider may refer to:
Missulena bradleyi, also known as the eastern mouse spider, is a species of spider belonging to the family Actinopodidae. The spider is endemic to the eastern coast of Australia.
The spider species Plebs eburnus is commonly referred to as the eastern grass orb-weaver or the eastern bush orb-weaver, and sometimes more simply as the bush orb-weaver. It is an orb-weaver spider from the family Araneidae endemic to Australia. It is a very common spider with distinctive white markings, which give it the species name eburnus pertaining to ivory. It is found in scrub and tall grasses where the female constructs a vertical web usually no more than 2 metres from the ground, and stays there day and night. The web of some of these spiders has been seen to be decorated with nearly vertical stabilimentum. The stabilimentum of the related P.cyphoxis is usually observed vertical.
Oxyopes macilentus, sometimes known as the lean lynx spider, is a species of lynx spiders from East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and northern Australia. They are active predators, hunting invertebrates among vegetation. They are especially common in grassy areas and rice fields. Their bodies are characteristically long and thin, about four times as long as it is wide. Their body color ranges from pale white to yellow, orange, or green; with a pattern of black, orange, and white longitudinal lines. Females have a maximum body length of 10 mm (0.39 in), while males grow to 9 mm (0.35 in).
Beregama is a genus of South Pacific huntsman spiders that was first described by D. B. Hirst in 1990.
Neosparassus is a genus of huntsman spiders first described by Henry Roughton Hogg in 1903. Members of this genus most closely resemble those of Heteropoda, except that the cephalothorax is high, peaking between the midpoint and the eyes, before sloping toward the back. This angle causes the front of these spiders to appear more prominent than it actually is.
Yiinthi is a genus of South Pacific huntsman spiders that was first described by V. T. Davies in 1994. Y. lycodes was transferred from Heteropoda.
Cyrtophora hirta is a species of tent spider found in the Australia. The southern range of distribution is near Sydney, though there are New Guinea and Tasmanian records on the Atlas of Living Australia. Ludwig Koch described the species in 1872 from specimens from Bowen, Queensland.
Dolomedes facetus, commonly known as clever fishing spider, is a species of medium to large-sized fishing spider, which is endemic to Australia, where it lives in freshwater ponds and waterways in the coastal areas, ranging from Western Australia to Tasmania. It is common in northern parts of Australia, particularly Queensland and the Northern Territory.
Heteropoda jugulans, sometimes called the brown huntsman, is a species of spider endemic to parts of Eastern Australia. It is a member of the genus Heteropoda of huntsman spider.
