Australian couple videotapes large huntsman spider killing gecko
A couple in Queensland, Australia got an unexpected treat: they witnessed a large huntsman spider, with a 5 inch diameter, killing a gecko on their living room window, and have pictures and video to share with the rest of us. It’s an amazing example of nature in action, demonstrating just what these incredible arachnids can do. Spiders are known for ridding homes and neighborhoods of pests, and large huntsman spiders really get the hob done.
And this isn’t even the most impressive hunt recorded in Queensland. Another Australian captured a huntsman dragging an entire adult mouse along the side of a refrigerator! We can expect more exciting spider footage to come, because the huntsman is one of the most common spiders in Australian homes, making the probability of more encounters with this unusually large arachnid extremely probable.
Australia’s huntsman spiders are certainly huge, and appear quite menacing to the uninitiated, but to humans they are harmless. These expert hunters live up to their names, because they don’t build webs, but rather stalk their prey, as cats might, before pouncing, and then immobilizing the hapless creatures with venom. This is, of course, unsettling to many. Australia definitely isn’t for the faint of heart. But for spider enthusiasts the world over, there’s great news: the huntsman spider isn’t a single species, but rather an entire family called Saparassidae, comprising over 1,000 distinct species found throughout Australia, Africa, Asia, the Mediterranean, and North America. The Australian varieties, though, can get quite large, as we’ve seen.
Learn more about the gecko eating huntsman spider (Science Alert)
Photo: Melanie Jade Ottaway, Science Alert
