Huntsman Spider (Holconia sp) (1/1)

Araneae: Sparassidae

Holconia sp  

After several hours of birding at Kamarooka State Reserve, I was opening the rear of the vehicle when I found this huntsman just inside. I'm fairly spider-friendly usually but large spiders (those front legs are spanning about 5 centimetres) running around in my car stretch the friendship a little. I asked it to leave.

Normally, one of these should be hiding under bark or somewhere dark during daylight hours (as I guess it was before it was disturbed by me). It is a nocturnal hunter and would have found the dark corner in the car during a night-time prowl back in Melbourne.

I didn't offer it a return lift back to the city so I hope it found a new home in the country to its liking.

Huntsman spiders have eight eyes in two rows of four. There are four clearly visible in the photograph facing forward like the spotlights mounted on the bull-bar of a four-wheel-drive, and a less conspicuous row of four behind those on the top of the head.