Everyone loves spiders. They get rid of pests and unwanted insects, provide beautiful webs to admire and are cute to look at – especially the ones covered in fur with long, pointy legs.
Most people probably don’t think like that. It’s much the opposite – most people hate spiders, despite their usefulness to the environment and their relative disposition of cowardice.
They’re more afraid of us than we are of them – except a few, and they may be responsible for the widespread disgust with the animal kingdom as a whole. The spiders that aren’t afraid to try hunting humans.
Few are as obviously loathed as the Huntsman Spider, the very model of big-spiders that people fear. It gets its name, appropriately, for its woodland habitat and its unusual tactics.
They can be seen sprinting across forest floors with their long crab-like legs in pursuit of prey, not as ambush predators or trap-layers, but as true hunters.
These spiders are an occurrence all over the world. If you’ve ever had to run away from a spider outside, you’ve probably already encountered a Huntsman Spider.
10 /10 Spider Speed
The Huntsman Spider covers many different species, all with the same basic behavioral and action patterns.
Instead of weaving tight, vast webs that catch prey with sticky silk, which are then bound up and slowly devoured, Huntsman Spiders lay in wait and then chase down or pounce on small game, immobilize them with venom, and eat them as they please. No wrapping is necessary.
9 /10 The Biggest Small Threat
Huntsman spiders measure as some of the enormous spiders on the planet. Which is to say, still very small.
The so-called Giant Huntsman Spider native to Laos can measure almost a foot across from leg to leg, with the legs being the longest part of the body.
Their bodies, themselves, are thankfully much smaller, as their legs make up a majority of their length. This adds to their alternate name of “crab spiders.” A crab’s body isn’t the big part; the legs are.