That Reptile Blog – Reptile, Amphibian and Exotic Pet Care and Information

In Part I of this article I talked a bit about collecting (or trying to collect!) the Huntsman Spider, Heteropoda venatoria, in a most unlikely setting.  Usually purchased as a “curiosity”, the Huntsman often surprises its new owners with a range of interesting behaviors – if you thought that spider pets were limited to tarantulas, please consider this fascinating alternative!

Caution: Although Huntsman Spiders are not considered to be dangerously venomous, they are fast and aggressive, and will not hesitate to bite.  We know little about spider venom, and the possibility of an allergic reaction must be considered (central nervous system reactions have been reported on rare occasions)….please do not touch any spider with bare hands.

Natural History

The Huntsman Spider likely originated in southern India and Sri Lanka, but is now well-established in warm regions worldwide (including Florida).  They frequently enter buildings, where they sometimes welcomed for their roach-catching abilities.

The alternate name, Giant Crab Spider, took hold because these spiders hold the first 2 pairs of legs spread-out like a crab on guard.   Huntsman Spiders build no webs, but rather run down their prey, and are quite ravenous.  I’ve observed youngsters being dragged about by roaches three times their size, and adults sometimes catch lizards and small bats.

Huntsman Spiders are entirely arboreal and adapted to living upon flat surfaces, such as walls and tree trunks, as opposed to branches.

Huntsman Terrariums

In captivity, they take readily to cork bark  and will climb terrarium glass as well.  Position cork bark slabs near the glass, so that the spiders will remain visible when using the reverse side of the bark as a shelter.

While arboreal tarantulas (i.e. Pink-toed Tarantulas, Avicularia spp.) do well in standard aquariums turned on end to provide additional height, I hesitate to recommend such for Huntsman Spiders – opening the screen cover leaves a wide area available for escape.  I much prefer a “tall or high style” aquarium, with the cover is on top.  Alternatively, a Faunarium turned on its end might work, as the access door is small and should limit escapes.

Heat and Humidity

Huntsman Spiders favor warm, humid habitats, and should be maintained at 77-85 F and provided daily misting and a moisture-retaining substrate.

Diet

Huntsmans take nearly any insect prey available, but particularly favor roaches.  Wild caught moths, katydids, beetles and grasshoppers should also be provided whenever possible.

Breeding

Male Huntsman Spiders are smaller and thinner than females, and their carapace bears darker markings.  When ready to breed, males cease feeding and develop noticeably swollen pedipalps (leg-like structures bearing sperm packets).  They wander about in search of females to mate with (and, usually, to be consumed by!). I’ve had breeding males escape with their lives, but none have survived for long afterwards.

The female carries her uniquely flattened egg case below her body.  The young stay on her for a short time, and then disperse.  If you are raising this species, be sure to cover the terrarium’s screening with an extra layer of mosquito netting, lest the hatchlings escape – a colony established in the home is not to everyone’s liking!

Further Reading

Huntsman and other spiders produce a range of sounds.  An interesting article on this topic, which includes photos of males in breeding condition, is posted here.

A video showing this species’ speed and hunting style is posted

Huntsman Spider image referenced from wikipedia and originally posted by Ed g2s and Saperaud

As a boy, my favorite exotic animal collecting site was, of all places, the loading dock of the local A&P Supermarket.  Raymond Ditmars and other famous city-born naturalists had taken this route, and so I followed.  The store was not far from the Bronx’s Hunts Point Market, where trucks from all over delivered fresh produce. Hidden within the produce crates were the creatures I sought – tree frogs, spiders, lizards, insects and such (I once narrowly missed a Mouse Opossum).  All large spiders were called “Banana Spiders”…one, the Giant Crab or Huntsman Spider (Heteropoda venatoria), appeared on occasion but was always too fast for me.  I became obsessed with this beast, whose leg span approached 6 inches, but, try as I might, I remained crab spider-less.

Meeting Both a Long-Lost Spider and Entomologist

It was to be over 15 years before I next crossed paths with the Huntsman Spider – this time in a Bronx Zoo building (JungleWorld) in which I worked as an animal keeper.  A huge population, having arrived with tropical plants, was established, and I was ecstatic (my mammal-keeping co-workers were far less impressed!).

The spiders were faster than I remembered (and I was slower!)…those I captured had mainly fallen into places from which they could not escape.  They proved surprisingly easy to breed and, once set up in our exhibit area, were very popular with our visitors.

I took a specimen to the American Museum of Natural History, where it was identified as Heteropoda venatoria.  Amazingly, the woman who identified the spider for me was famed invertebrate specialist Alice Gray…while speaking, we discovered that it was she who had answered my mantis rearing questions when I called the museum as a boy, 25 years earlier!

Captive Care

These impressive spiders occasionally appear on the price lists of Florida-based reptile dealers, and they are quite inexpensive.  If a few guidelines are followed, they make fascinating, active terrarium inhabitants, and breed readily.  Once their amazing speed in hunting is seen in action, even die-hard tarantula fans cannot resist them!

I’ll cover the natural history and captive care of Huntsman Spiders in Part II of this article.

Further Reading

An interesting article on this spider’s life cycle is posted at on the website of the Cambridge Entomological Society.

Male Huntsman Spider image referenced from wikipedia and originally posted by B. Navez