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Huntsman Spider from Yucca Valley

On · Category: Huntsman Spiders and Giant Crab Spiders · 1 Comment

Subject: What is it?
Location: Yucca Valley, CA
May 5, 2013 11:15 pm
I have lived in my house for 5 years and have seen 4 of these. The first 1 was in the garage on the wall up high. The second was at the bottom of my laundry basket that came from the garage. The third was in my hall by the attic up high and the fourth was tonight in my kitchen on the wall up high. People say it is a crab/huntsman spider or a wolf spider. I have 3 kids and was wondering if they are poisonous and if it is one of the spider’s I mentioned.
Thank You.
Signature: J.B

Huntsman Spider

Huntsman Spider

Dear J.B.,
This is a Huntsman Spider or Giant Crab Spider in the family Sparassidae, and considering your location, it is most likely in the genus Olios, though you photo does not have enough detail to be certain.  Giant Crab Spiders in the genus Olios are native and they are not considered dangerous.  You can see additional images on BugGuide.  Olios giganteus is documented from Yucca Valley on BugGuide.

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Spider Wasp with Rain (Huntsman) Spider prey from South Africa

On · Category: Huntsman Spiders and Giant Crab Spiders, spider wasps Tagged With: · Add Comment

Subject: Spider Wasp
Location: White River, South Africa
April 19, 2013 6:58 am
Hi Bugman
Thanks for your reply. As it happens I did take some photographs. My wife has most of the shots and it going to try and upgrade the quality of the photos, but I have attached three in their original state for your perusal.
Signature: Steve

Spider Wasp with Huntsman Spider

Spider Wasp with Huntsman Spider

Dear Steve,
Thank you so much for writing back and providing photos to the comment you posted on the Spider Wasp from South Africa posting.  Many Spider Wasps have a metallic sheen and we are curious if your personal observations included the purplish color of the posting you commented upon.  We get most of our Spider Wasp and Huntsman Spider submissions from Australia.  We are running a bit late this morning, but we will try to identify this species of Spider Wasp in the near future.  Your photos are wonderful.  We believe that the Spider Wasp might be dragging the Spider up the wall in an effort to glide as far as possible.  The wasp could never get off the ground with such a heavy payload, but by taking off from a higher elevation, she can still make use of flight to return to her burrow.

Spider Wasp with Rain Spider

Spider Wasp with Rain Spider

Thank you for reminding us that Huntsman Spiders are known as Rain Spiders in some parts of their range.  Your previous comment mentioned the pain of the sting.  Do you know this firsthand.  North American Tarantula Hawks, another large group of Spider Wasps, are also reported to have among the most painful stings of any insect.

Spider Wasp with Rain Spider

Spider Wasp with Rain Spider

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Spider Wasp attacks Huntsman Spider in Hong Kong

On · Category: Huntsman Spiders and Giant Crab Spiders, spider wasps Tagged With: · Add Comment

Subject: Strange bug
Location: Hong Kong/China
April 13, 2013 7:32 am
We were in china last summer, and we saw this strange bug with purple wings and orange legs, it seemed to be eating a spider. It was as big as a pointer finger, and really scary.
I took the picture.
Signature: -Catie

Spider Wasp attacks Huntsman Spider

Spider Wasp attacks Huntsman Spider

Dear Catie,
The predator is a Spider Wasp in the family Pompilidae and the prey appears to be a Huntsman Spider in the family Sparassidae.  The spider is not being eaten by the wasp.  Female Spider Wasps hunt and paralyze Spiders to feed to their broods.  The paralyzed spider provides fresh, not dry meat for the developing wasp larva.

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Male Huntsman Spider

On · Category: Huntsman Spiders and Giant Crab Spiders · Add Comment

Subject: wolfspider
Location: costa rica
March 27, 2013 12:26 am
a big spider
in Belgium we call it a wolfspider…
Signature: fred from belgium

Male Huntsman Spider

Male Huntsman Spider

Dear Fred,
This is a Male Huntsman Spider or Giant Crab Spider, Heteropoda venatoria.  It is sometimes called a Banana Spider because for many years, they were spread around the world when they arrived in shipments of bananas, often emerging in grocery stores.  In many parts of the world they are tolerated since they hunt at night and feed on Cockroaches.  This submission will post live to our site next week.

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Huntsman Spider

On · Category: Huntsman Spiders and Giant Crab Spiders · Add Comment

Subject: Big spider
Location: Yucca Valley CA
March 20, 2013 9:20 pm
Hi my daughter just found this spider in her room. She is refusing to go back in.
Can you identify this spider and its she at risk off being bit by more of them at night. Are they toxic to humans?
We live in the desert
Signature: Thanks!! Kimberly

Huntsman Spider

Huntsman Spider

Hi Kimberly,
This is a Huntsman Spider or Giant Crab Spider, and it is most likely in the genus Olios.  North American Huntsmans Spiders and not considered harmful, though some tropical species are reported to have bites that might be dangerous to humans.  If it is any consolation to your daughter, let her know that Huntsman Spiders are shy nocturnal hunters that prey upon Cockroaches and Scorpions and other creatures that she might dislike more than Spiders.

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Spider Wasp with Huntsman prey from Australia

On · Category: Huntsman Spiders and Giant Crab Spiders, spider wasps Tagged With: , · Add Comment

Subject: Unkown flying insect dragging a dead spider
Location: South-Eastern suburbs of Melbourne Vic. Aust.
March 20, 2013 4:38 am
Hi
I found this page while trying to identify this insect on the various bug sites and having no success, so am hoping that you can identify this insect.
I have never seen one before and was astonished to see it dragging a dead spider up the brickwork next to my front door.
The bricks are 8cm deep and this insect had to be 3.5cm long. It moved very fast and was also able to fly short distances with the dead spider in tow.
The shot was taken in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne at 5.45pm on the 20 March 2013. The weather today was 29c and humidity at about 40%. We have recently had a very dry hot spell of weather with a heavy down pour a few days earlier, so don’t know if this has any bearing on the presence of this insect.
The first photo is the sharpest, but I have included the others even if they are a bit blurred as you can get a side view of the insect .
The insect has a black body and yellow/orange wings, legs and head and it looks like from the 3rd very blurred photo that the rear end tip of the insect is also yellow/orange.
I am really hoping that you can identify it, as everyone I have showed these photos to has never seen anything like it and also has no idea what sort of flying insect it is.
Cheers and Thanks
Signature: Anne

Spider Wasp with Huntsman Spider

Spider Wasp with Huntsman Spider

Hi Anne,
We could have made your identification by your subject line alone considering the time of year.  Each year at this time (winter in our Los Angeles offices but summer in Australia) we receive several submissions of Spider Wasps, often your species which is Cryptocheilus bicolor, dragging Huntsman Spiders in Australia.  The spider is actually paralyzed and not dead.  The wasp is a female and she will provision her nest with paralyzed spiders to feed her brood.  When the eggs hatch, the young larvae will feed upon the nonvital organs first as the helpless spider is eaten alive.  Thanks for sending such a wonderful photograph since the ones we posted earlier in the month are blurry.

Spider Wasp with Huntsman Spider

Spider Wasp with Huntsman Spider

Wow, Thank you for replying so promptly.  A Spider Wasp, amazing, unfortunately, she lost her prey when she tried to drag it through an outdoor blind, so hopefully the spider recovered.
Anne

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Spider Wasp with Huntsman Spider from Australia

On · Category: Huntsman Spiders and Giant Crab Spiders, spider wasps Tagged With: , · 1 Comment

Subject: Australian Unknown – Newport, Victoria
Location: Newport, Victoria, Australia
March 8, 2013 2:59 am
This unknown bug was photographed on 3/8/13 in Newport, Victoria, Australia. It is dragging a dead Huntsman spider.
Please identify, if possible. Sorry about the blurry pic.
Thanks for the help!
Signature: Chuck

Spider Wasp with Huntsman Spider

Spider Wasp with Huntsman Spider

Dear Chuck,
Despite the blurry photos, we have not probems with this identification because we have seen this particular drama play out numerous times in the past.  We regularly get submissions of Spider Wasps with Huntsman Spider prey from Australia, and your wasp appears to be Cryptocheilus bicolor, a relatively common species in Australia.  Only the female hunts spiders, and only the female is capable of stinging.  The Huntsman Spider will not be eaten by the wasp that hunted it, but rather by her progeny.  She will drag the spider back to a burrow and bury it after laying a single egg.  The spider isn’t dead, but rather paralyzed, and it will supply the wasp larva with fresh meat.  The larva will eat nonvital organs first and the spider will be eaten alive.

Spider Wasp with Huntsman Spider

Spider Wasp with Huntsman Spider


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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Spider from Borneo is Huntsman Spider

On · Category: Huntsman Spiders and Giant Crab Spiders · 2 Comments

Subject: Giant ?leaf insect from Borneo plus cool spider
Location: Kinabatangan river,Sabah,Borneo
February 20, 2013 7:15 am
Hi,
I have used your wonderful service before now to help with ID of Borneo insects – hope that you can help with these from Borneo, riverine forest near the Kinabatangan river, found at night.
Best,
Louise
Signature: Louise

Spider

HI Louise,
We do not recognize this spider, but the eye arrangement is nicely represented in the photo and we imagine a spider expert, which we do not have on our staff, might be able to classify it correctly to the family level.  We are posting your photo as unidentified and hopefully in the future, one of our readers might provide a species or family identification.  In the future, please only submit one species per submission unless there is some reason, like predator and prey.

Thank you very much for your help, I will ask a spider expert and hope that Piotr can help with the katydid.
Louise

Update from Louise:  Heteropoda venatoria
Thanks Daniel
I just got a positive Id from Ray Hale who is writing a book on Spiders of Borneo
Heteropodidae. It looks like Heteropoda venatoria
Any luck on the katydid?  Or shall I try and contact Piotr directly?

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination