Heteropoda venatoria
(Huntsman Spider)

Featured spider picture The spider species Heteropoda venatoria, commonly known as Huntsman Spider, belongs to the genus Heteropoda, in the family Sparassidae. Heteropoda venatoria spiders have been sighted 103 times by contributing members. Based on collected data, the geographic range for Heteropoda venatoria includes 15 countries and 7 states in the United States. Heteropoda venatoria is most often sighted indoors, and during the month of April.

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Suborder: Araneomorphae
Family: Sparassidae
Genus: Heteropoda
Species: Heteropoda venatoria

Common Name (AAS)

Huntsman Spider

Other Common Names

Brown Huntsman, Giant Crab Spider, Cane Spider (in Hawaii)

Author

Carl Linnaeus, 1767

Primary Colors

Sightings Overview

There have been 103 confirmed sightings of Heteropoda venatoria (Huntsman Spider), with the most recent sighting submitted on February 1, 2021 by Spider ID member jeanettebeeswy. The detailed statistics below may not utilize the complete dataset of 103 sightings because of certain Heteropoda venatoria sightings reporting incomplete data.

Web: 8% of the time, Heteropoda venatoria spiders are sighted in a spider web (Sample size: 86)
Sex: 15 female and 45 male.
Environment: Heteropoda venatoria has been sighted 21 times outdoors, and 67 times indoors.
Outdoors: Man-made structure (16). On flower (1). Low foliage (2). Saltwater (1). Forest (1).

Location and Range

Heteropoda venatoria (Huntsman Spider) has been sighted in the following countries: Bahamas, Belize, Brazil, Denmark, Ecuador, Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, Thailand, United States, Venezuela.

Heteropoda venatoria has also been sighted in the following states: California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, None, Ohio, Texas.

Seasonality

Heteropoda venatoria has been primarily sighted during the month of April.

January: 2
February: 7
March: 18
April: 33
May: 18
June: 2
July: 6
August: 1
September:
October: 4
November: 3
December: 5

Additional Remarks

This is a very large spider. Its leg span can reach up to 4-5 inches.
Can be swift and sometimes aggressive but not considered dangerously venomous to humans. May bite in self-defense if roughly handled; mildly painful bite (can be likened to a bee sting if spider injects venom).
Known for its affinity for eating cockroaches.
Egg sac is white and carried underneath the body of the female, held by her fangs and pedipalps.
Unlike females, the adult males have a large black area on their carapace that is divided by a thin, beige ‘V’-shaped line.