I met a new species of Huntsman today, from a genus I've wanted to see for a long time! this girl is an (appropriately-named) Beautiful Badge Huntsman (Neosparassus calligaster).
spiders in the genus Neosparassus are unique for having a bright 'badge' marking on the underside of the abdomen (in the case of N. calligaster, it is a large black triangular shape), which they display when threatened.
this lady was very relaxed however, and I'm not one to antagonise an animal for the sake of a picture! aside from her abdominal 'badge', she has striking markings on her face and legs, in the form of contrasting bands and lovely white spots on the underside of her legs.
so the other day i was on a call with my friend playing Minecraft, when suddenly i was harassed by a hand-sized huntsman spider... who proceeded to run toward me
[Bonus exuvia behind cut because I don’t expect anyone else to think it’s cool lol]
So the legspan on the male Olios giganteus that left this exoskeleton I found had to have been at least 2 inches, almost palm-sized. Which means now that its molted, it’s bigger than that. And if there are females around here somewhere, they’re even bigger than that 😮
I mentioned I’d left out a huntsman spider I saw in Malaysia in the post below, and here it is! I spotted it on a rock beneath a small cave or overhang while on a night walk.
this one had everything; legspan, “teleportation” speed, and gorgeous colors. didn’t like me very much, though!
if you notice that its left leg 3 is slightly shorter and a different color, that’s most likely because it was lost a few molts ago, but grew back over the course of said molts & is almost good as new.
had the incredible privilege of witnessing this Bronze Huntsman molting on our front gate. this was my first time seeing a spider molt in action, and also my first time encountering this species of huntsman-- extra special indeed!
the process of ecdysis is a very vulnerable one for the creature, as their new exoskeleton requires time to dry and harden, leaving them at risk of injury and predation. in the photo above you can see the single thread of silk tethering her to the gate while she dangles.
between her unhardened joints, her blue-green hemolymph is seen.
after dangling for a bit, she began to flex her legs as her fresh new exoskeleton became more firm.
we found her back on the gate the next night, looking beautiful and healthy!