A giant crab spider native to Australia. The female’s size can reach 30 cm. There are no such giants in our area, but there are relatives with a body size of not more than 1.2 cm. They also call the huge crab spider the hunter, huntsman because of his lifestyle.
Description of appearance
The female reaches a size of 30 cm, the males are half smaller. A distinctive feature of this species are long forelimbs. At the ends, they resemble crab claws; with them, a giant spider crab grabs a prey. The animal runs fast, jumps well.
The abdomen is oval, convex, connected to the cephalothorax with a thin jumper. On the head the spider has 8 eyesproviding a broad outlook, but the crab spider is not distinguished by good vision. He sees silhouettes, shadows, reacts to movement. In his activity is guided by a sense of smell, touch.
The color is gray, brown, black. The body is covered with thick villi, powerful jaws are clearly visible on the front of the head. A photo of a crab spider is located below.
Behavior features
This is one of Australian spiders. Lives among plants, trees. Spends most of the time on the leaves, waiting for the victim. The crab spider does not weave hunting nets, uses the web to travel long distances, neighboring branches.
The predator behaves cautiously, does not give out its presence with unnecessary movements. Sits motionless in ambush or guards the laying of eggs. At the sight of the victim he takes a stand “with open arms”, he waits for the right moment. Almost immediately rushes to attack, bites, injects poison.
Interesting!
In pursuit of prey, the huntsman can develop great speed, move sideways in different directions, jump.
The giant crab spider feeds on insects, small relatives, lizards, frogs, even rodents. Together with the poison, the predator injects saliva, which in a few minutes turns the insides into a liquid mass. The hunter eats it.
Breeding
The mating season begins with the active courtship of the male for the female. After mating, a female individual weaves a cocoon from the cobwebs, attaches to leaves, shoves them in crevices in the rock, under the bark of trees, lays eggs there. In one clutch there can be several hundred eggs. Cubs are born in 20 days. At first they live under the auspices of females, then they crawl in different directions.
Danger to humans
A crab spider does not attack humans, but can bite, saving its own life. In most cases, people suffer through negligence. On the spot bite irritation, swelling, swelling, pain appears. People who are prone to allergies, small children may show signs of intoxication - nausea, vomiting, weakness, diarrhea, headache, dizziness, muscle aches. The condition normalizes independently after a couple of days. If you have difficulty breathing, you should immediately seek help from specialists.
