August 19, 2010 08:45 by
alanWhile recently showing visitors one of our huntsman spiders I received the comment "that's not a huntsman". The fact was that it wasn't the same as the huntsman that the person was used to seeing around their home.
So what is a huntsman?
Huntsmen are spiders belonging to the family Heteropodidae, a very diverse group of which Australia has over 200 species. Most are large spiders with laterigrade legs (legs that allow them to move sideways). While many species are brown and grey, there are plenty of colourful huntsmen with green, orange, red, blue and yellow making up their patterns. They are wandering hunters, and don't use a web to snare their prey. They simply capture their prey with speed and agility, quickly latching onto it with their fangs. Although they are venomous, as a group they are considered relatively harmless as their venoms have very little effect on humans.
As for your local huntsman, depending on where you live you may have several and they may be quite different in appearance.
The Murray Banded Huntsman (Holconia murrayensis) from Hattah in north west Victoria. Photo: Alan Henderson Source: Minibeast Wildlife
A Banded Huntsman from Brisbane (Holconia immanis). Photo: Alan Henderson Source Museum Victoria
A Badge Huntsman (Neosparassus diana) from Melbourne Photo: Alan Henderson Source Museum Victoria
A Giant Green Huntsman (Typostola barbata) from Bacchus Marsh. Photo: Alan Henderson Source: Minibeast Wildlife
A Tiger Huntsman (Typostola sp.) from Cairns. A species we discovered in 2006 and is still awaiting scientific description. Photo: Alan Henderson Source: Museum Victoria 2ce16c92-9ffd-4d1e-9259-5608ecb37578|4|5.0