Australian hunter spider

Hunter spider belongs to the species Dolomedes fimbriatus L. It belongs to the family of tarantulas, lives in water, near water bodies. Distributed throughout the world, the brightest representatives live in tropical countries. Large specimens are poisonous to humans, but do not pose a deadly threat.

Appearance Description - Common Features

Hunter spiders live on almost all continents, differing in size, color, lifestyle, reproduction.The most famous 3 species - the inhabitants of tropical countries.

Australian huntsman spider (lat. Heteropoda)

The leg span is 30 cm, body length 46 mm. The largest spider in Australia. Color varied. Brown, gray, green shades prevail. Females are always more than males almost 2 times. The belly is convex, 4 pairs of powerful, long limbs are attached to the cephalothorax. There are 8 eyes on the head, 2 of them are main, the rest are auxiliary.

On a note!

The Australian giant spider is nocturnal, hunts from an ambush or stalking a victim. Clever nets do not weave, but they wrap the entrance to their own shelter with cobwebs. An adult lives up to 3 years.

Common spider hunter

Representative of the Eurasian continent. The body size of the female is 2 cm, the male is 1.3 cm. The color is yellow-brown, black-brown. Bright yellow stripes on the sides. In young spiders, the body is colored evenly yellow, stripes, spots are absent. It settles along the banks of reservoirs in moist soil. Clever networks do not form. It hunts aquatic, land insects, fish, fry, frogs. Runs fast, dives.

On a note!

Life expectancy of sexually mature females is 1.5 years.Males die much earlier - almost immediately after fertilization, very often the female eats them.

Hunter spiders

Striped spider hunter

It lives in European countries, is found in Russia. Total known about 1 thousand species. It has a bright color, large size. The body length of females reaches 2 cm without taking into account the legs, the males are half as long. The head of the breast is brown, with longitudinal yellow stripes on the abdomen. Limbs 6 cm long covered with hairs, spikes. A photo of the hunter's spider with a bright color is presented below. Hunting leads from an ambush, settles near water. Runs fast, for movement on the water builds a raft of plants. The female lives up to 2 years.

Interesting!

Hunter spiders due to their large size and bright color are often brought up as a pet. In the artificial environment grow, mate, multiply.

Behavior, lifestyle

All hunters live near reservoirs, they are often caught along with a duckweed, a net. They live on the water or in close proximity. Clever nets for catching prey do not weave, they hunt actively. Once on the water, quickly form a raft of scrap materials - dry grass, leaves, bark.They entangle several parts with a cobweb, sit on a raft, and quietly float through a swamp, a deep puddle.

Striped spider hunter

The basis of the diet are insects. As well as fry, crustaceans, snails, caterpillars. Large specimens prey on fish, frogs, tritons, snakes, snakes. Attack from a secluded place. Inject poison, saliva. The first substance paralyzes the victim, the second - dilutes the insides to the state of broth. A few minutes later, the predator begins to eat.

Gathering in pairs only in the mating season. After fertilization, a hungry female can safely eat her “boyfriend”. For laying eggs forms a cocoon of cobwebs. At one time it fits from 500 to 1000 pieces. The female fastens them to the plants near the reservoir or drags it on itself. The incubation period is 3 weeks. Young spiders almost immediately begin an independent life.

Danger to humans

Hunters are nocturnal, in search of food can crawl into a man’s house. Hiding under furniture, in shoes, among clothes, cupboards with dishes.

On a note!

They do not attack a person, prefer to retire quickly, but in defending their own lives, they painfully bite.

At the site of the bite there is swelling, swelling, redness. People with weak immunity, allergies, small children often experience a deterioration of health - weakness, dizziness, headache, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting. The condition is normalized after a few days. To speed up the effect of taking antihistamines. The hunter does not belong to the number of deadly poisonous spiders.