Talk:Huntsman spider
The range of the huntsman spiders is far wider than Australia and New Zealand. They also occur in the U.S., and, I'm pretty sure, across Eurasia. I'm pretty sure I've seen them in Japan, in the Kyoto area too. I wouldn't be surprised to discover that they occur in Africa as well. It's odd, but I just got started on them tonight because I was trying to identify something that ran up and tried to bite in the Riverside, CA area.
Patrick0Moran 07:10, 3 Aug 2003 (UTC)
- I expect you're right - I've only seen them in Australia but that doesn't mean they are not elsewhere. All I can say is they are NOT found in the UK! A Google search was inconclusive - almost all refs I found were Australian. GRAHAMUK 07:14, 3 Aug 2003 (UTC)
I found one source that says their distribution is all across the topics: http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/spiders/text/Heteropoda_venatoria.htm
Then for Laos: http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~dp7a-tnkw/referenc.txt
Thailand: http://www.axbridgecavinggroup.org/page32.html
Can huntsman spiders run on glass? I've seen something that looks like a large wolf spider in the SW part of the US and in Japan. It is about 3/4 in long, looks in general conformation like one of the wolf spiders, but it can run like crazy on vertical surfaces, even glass. And it is the only spider I've ever seen that will run up to a pencil tip and bite. Unfortunately, I didn't have anything to collect the spider with that day...
Patrick0Moran 22:32, 3 Aug 2003 (UTC)
Also, Israel: http://research.amnh.org/entomology/spiders/catalog81-87/BIB7.html
Also, Japan -- but their charset is strange, haven't been able to get it to change into Japanese for me yet. http://mirukashihime.cool.ne.jp/asidaka2.htm
Also, Tunisia -- http://www.britishspiders.org.uk/bultn/v11.html
Also, Virginia, USA -- http://www.loven.plus.com/nicksspiders/readers.htm
Anyone have a picture of one of these things? I would love to see a good pic of a 15cm spider. :)--Lucky13pjn 01:04, Jun 9, 2004 (UTC)
There are some spiders with leg spans of around those dimensions, but not huntsman spiders. I have fixed the figures to something more reasonable. Also will need to "globalize" this article as it currently pertains mostly to Australia and New Zealand. P0M
§ Wow! I have to take that back. Just by chance I received the following communication from one of the tarantula enthusiasts/specialists:
- Heteropoda maxima males can get a legspan of 25-30 cm:
- JÄGER, P. (2001): A new species of Heteropoda (Araneae, Sparassidae,
Heteropodinae) from Laos, the largest huntsman spider? Zoosystema 23(3): 461-465.
Of course people usually mention the body length of spiders, but even so, the body to go along with a legspan of nearly one foot must be four inches or more. Huntsman spiders, generally speaking, are not built like some of the web weavers that are designed to keep their bodies well away from their thrashing prey. I would like to see a picture of one of these creatures too. P0M