The legs are joined in a twisted pattern, similar to crabs. Female spiders make egg sacs and lay eggs inside the sac. Some spiders attach the sac to the grassland or vegetation they live in, some spiders prefer to attach the sac to their bodies. In a single clutch, there are around eggs. Upon laying the eggs, the female spider guard them at the cost of their lives. They protect eggs and spiderlings for 3 weeks at a stretch. The huntsman spiders are not generally aggressive, but female spiders can be extremely protective of their eggs and spiderlings, and they can give painful bites for defending their offspring.
As far as venom is concerned, it is used for immobilizing the prey and does not have fatal effects on humans. In fact, huntsman spiders are also referred to as giant crab spiders. Huntsman spiders' legs have twisted joints, which allow the appendages to extend forward like a crab's and their alignment allows the spider to move side-to-side, also similar to a crab. Males have longer legs, although females have larger bodies.
The spiders' legs are typically gray or brown, and banded. Many huntsman species' bodies have a flattened appearance, ideal for squeezing into tight places, according to the Australian Museum.
The giant huntsman was found in Laos, and most huntsman species are native to Asia. They live in some warm American states such as Florida, California and Texas, and, according to the University of Florida , it is presumed that they were introduced from Asia.
Folklore stories claim the spiders traveled from Asia in boxes of bananas, and because of that, they are sometimes called banana spiders. Bills extolled the huntsman's speed: "They can often be quite large and very quick.
The spider typically lives under loose bark on trees, under rocks, in crevices and under foliage. Huntsman spiders, especially Australian species, are notorious for entering houses and cars. According to the Australian Museum, they have been "found hiding behind sun visors or running across the dashboard.
The huntsman runs after or ambushes its prey, killing it with venom and strong mouthparts, called the chelicerae. Once captured, the prey will be injected with deadly venom from glands within the spider's body, according the University of Florida.
This is aided by their legs which, instead of bending vertically in relation to the body, have the joints twisted so that they spread out forwards and laterally in crab-like fashion.
However, their vision is quite sufficient to detect approaching humans or other large animals from some distance. The Banded Huntsman Spider Holconia is large and grey to brown with striped bands on its legs.
The Badge Huntsman Neosparassus is larger still and brown and hairy. Its bite will inflict the worst injury and local swelling and pain may cause nausea, headache, vomiting and heart palpitations. The Tropical or Brown Huntsman Heteropoda is also large and hairy, with mottled brown, white and black markings.
Huntsman Spiders are found in Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, the Mediterranean, Florida and Hawaii and possibly in many other tropical and semi-tropical regions.
Adult Huntsman spiders do not build webs, however, they hunt and forage for food. Huntsman Spiders are found living under loose bark on trees, in crevices on rock walls and in logs, under rocks and slabs of bark on the ground and on foliage.
Dozens of the social huntsman species, Delena cancerides , can be seen sitting together under bark on dead trees and stumps, however, they can also be found on the ground under rocks and bark slabs. Badge Huntsman Spiders are often found on foliage, however, some woodland species are burrow builders, with and without trapdoors. Huntsman spiders of many species sometimes enter houses. Huntsman Spiders are also notorious for entering cars and being found hiding behind sun visors or running across the dashboard.
Males of Heteropoda venatoria, one of the Huntsman spiders, have recently been found to deliberately make a sound when they are given reason to believe that females of their species are nearby. These spiders have a lengthy courtship and the male is rarely attacked after mating, unlike some other species of spider.
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