Huntsman Spider

Hi Pradeep, I see that you spotted this beautiful spider 8 years ago and it has still not been identified. So, I thought I should try to help. I started by reading all of the many comments you received and, of course, the most significant advice was given by PN Rangers Wild Thing and SukanyaDatta, both of whom felt that you should settle for the name of the family, Sparassidae. At that time, 7 years ago, I am sure that I would have agreed with them, but things have moved on and there is now a great deal more information available online. I will send you a Species ID Suggestion, showing that I think this spider is Olios lamarcki (Latreille, 1806). My main purpose in sending you this comment is to offer some advice about your spottings in general. I hope that you do not mind and accept my advice, in the spirit of friendship, in which it is offered. I have noticed that many of your spottings have very little in the way of Description, Habitat or Notes. This spotting has only the words “My 200th spotting in project noah” in the Notes field. That’s O.K., but there is no information about the spider. If you can’t think of anything to say in Description or Notes, that happens sometimes and is probably going to be understood by most people. However, the Habitat field is absolutely essential and you really should be able, in a few words, to say where you saw the spider. Your photos are beautiful, but some words in the Habitat field would greatly improve the quality of your spottings. In the case of this spotting, there is so much that could be mentioned in “Description” to make it interesting and informative. If this were my spotting, I would have said something like this; “You can see in the picture that this spider has grown a new leg (Leg No. 2 on its right side). Although this new leg is not yet fully developed, the dark markings are already beginning to show. The strong outer skin (exoskeleton) and the bristles (setae) will take a little time to develop and the spider is only slightly disadvantaged by this. However, I think I see something much more serious going on. If you look at both No. 1 legs (left and right) where the Femora connect to the Trochanters, it looks like Haemolymph (the equivalent of blood, in a spider) is seeping out. I also think I can see some similar leakage at the Pedicel (the tube-like joint between the abdomen and the cephalothorax). This kind of damage can sometimes be caused by a difficult moult and, If I am right, this spider has little chance of survival.” Now, Pradeep, please remember that I did not see the actual spider – I saw only one photo. So, I might well be wrong in my interpretation of the condition of your spider, but that does not matter. The point is that I have written some words to make the spotting interesting and hopefully slightly educational. If some biologist tells me that I am wrong, I will accept that and then I will be the one to learn. If you agree with my Species ID Suggestion and my interpretation of you photo, please feel free to copy and paste my words into your Description field (without the quotation marks) and, hopefully your spotting will look better.

This is surely a huntsman spider, but I can't identify the exact species.

Is it venomous..? I spotted a spider like this.

This has to be one of the most beautiful huntsman spiders I've ever seen. Both Olios and Heteropoda species are worth considering. Congrats on your 200th spotting too.

Lovely colour

Yes, from Australia and that too a very recent find. Apparently it is still a live specimen in a museum. I was wondering if we have similar species in India..colours are very tiger-like :) I agree with Wild Things... better to leave it at Family level.

Looks like a huntsman spider from the family Sparassidae. The reference given by Sukanya is of a spider from Australia. There are chances that this might be the same one but it would be better to leave the ID to the family. Maybe some experts should look at it?

The vibrant colours of this spider attracted me....but I could not find any matches at the spider ID sites I usually check. Then, I found this write up. The first illustration is quite similar to yours but obviously not identical. Maybe you would like to read this: http://www.minibeastwildlife.com.au/resources/tiger-huntsman/

Congrats Pradeep Kumar

Hi Pradeep! I'm not sure what species this is, just maybe in hunstman family, Sparassidae.. But I think this is not a jumpring spider as you add this spotting to jumping spider mission.. Cheers :)

Congratulations Pradeep!

Congrats on your milestone Pradeep.

Nice shot!