I'm like an STD that just lingers ... chickenpox that becomes shingles, an itch that becomes a puss-oozing boil. I just won't go the fuck away.
The 159 posts of
KMBHS have 33,352 page views. That's an average of 200 per post. More recent numbers are dismal, but that's my own fault as my frequency of blogging here has diminished. By contrast, my new Triggercontrol Tactical blog has 1343 page views for 11 posts. 122 per.
I don't require a lot of feedback. I enjoy comments, but other than Apple they are few and far between. I blog for myself. I like to hear myself type. I'm a quiet guy, even anti-social, but have diarrhea of the fingers. So this has always been about me.
But feedback does encourage, and I just got some praise that was all I needed to post again, not even an hour after a post that may have seemed like a farewell. The person with the kind words saw my post about the blog on Instagram despite following only six people and having no posts or followers of his own. He commented that he doesn't typically read blogs, but "KMBHS blog is kick ass, whether you are talking about tarantulas or going on rants it's just an awesome read". Cheers mate. Just for you, Cody, I will post something–on topic–here.
Here is some
SPIDER Talk: This is a special blog version of the article I co-authored with Tom Patterson for the
Journal of the British Tarantula Society 31(1). I'll add only a few of the articles images here and only my own. Thus, the figure numbers in the original article are irrelevant for this version and have been deleted. Only BTS Members with access to the print
Journal or PDF version can enjoy the many beautiful photos Tom and I shared with this article.
I'll remind you that this is just one example of the quality content that our BTS publications enjoy, and urge you once more to consider membership. If money is tight just get a digital membership and download the Journals and Newsletters as PDF.
By the way, you can download an abridged list of my publications here.
Huntsman Spiders of the genus Heteropoda (Sparassidae) in
Captivity
Text and images by Michael Jacobi & Tom Patterson
Introduction
Who doesn’t love spiders that can
seemingly teleport? In the blink of an eye, most keepers of huntsman spiders
have had the experience of a blurry streak of spider vacating its enclosure and
appearing seconds later in the opposite corner of the room or beyond. Human
reflexes are no match for containing the flurry of a spirited spider at hyper
speed. Who isn’t enchanted by the myriad of colours and patterns adorning the
crab-like resting pose of many sparassids? One was even named after superstar
David Bowie due to having facial makeup that would make the king of glam rock
blush. The popular name for these spiders itself conjures images of a master
marauder. Huntsman. Stalker, assailant, attacker. Those whose arachnocultural
pursuits tend towards the predatory tarantula spiders may find spiders that
snare their prey in silken traps less appealing, but the fast and efficient
assault of the huntsman spider is certain to captivate.
The family Sparassidae Bertkau,
1872 consists of 85 genera. This article will limit itself to Heteropoda
Latreille, 1804, which contains an astonishing 197 species (World Spider
Catalog, 2015), and a tome could be devoted to this genus alone. However,
Heteropoda isn’t even the largest genus of Sparassidae. Its cousin, Olios, is
found worldwide and currently is home to 244 species. The evolutionary success
of the huntsman spiders is astounding.
Heteropoda is Asian and
Australasian in distribution, but the cosmotropical H. venatoria has been
introduced elsewhere. We believe that the spider marketed as “Heteropoda sp. Cameroon
Giant” is a large form of H. venatoria. The genus does not naturally occur in
Africa. In the United States, H. venatoria populations are succeeding in
subtropical areas of Florida, Texas, and California, and in some coastal areas
of Georgia and South Carolina. Three species currently listed as Heteropoda
(World Spider Catalog, 2015) from South America (two from Colombia and one from
Peru) are certainly misidentified and misplaced. One of the Colombian species,
H. camelia, has already been treated as misplaced by Jäger, 2014.
Clearly tackling a genus so diverse
and extensive is a daunting task. In this article we wish to just highlight a
handful of Heteropoda species and undescribed forms that we have worked with in
captivity and treat you to some stunning images that illustrate the beauty of
these huntsman spiders. We will provide some tips and tricks helpful in
maintaining and breeding these amazing spiders in the terrarium while providing
some brief comments on their natural history.
Natural History Notes
With such a large genus occurring
from Afghanistan through the Indian subcontinent, Asia, Southeast Asia,
Indonesia, Borneo, Australasia, the Pacific Islands and beyond, it is no
surprise that Heteropoda fills many niches from caves to rainforest canopy.
Throughout its tropical distribution it has acquired a number of vernacular
names, and, in English, they are sometimes referred to as crab spiders (not to
be confused with the “real” crab spiders of the family Thomisidae) due to their
crab-like habitus, and also as cane spiders, banana spiders and, of course,
huntsman spiders. They are active predators that possess potent venom that is
effective against their prey (in addition to insects they are known to consume
scorpions and even bats), but none are thought to be dangerous to humans. Among
their interesting traits at least one species has the ability to produce sound
without the stridulatory organs used in some theraphosid spiders (Rovner,
1980). During its courtship behaviour, a male Heteropoda venatoria can create a
faintly audible buzz or hum by the vibration of its long legs while its feet
(tarsi) remain in contact with the substrate.
Challenges in Husbandry
The biggest hurdle to overcome when
maintaining Heteropoda and other sparassids is their blinding speed and how
quickly a disturbance can initiate a flight response that results in an escaped
spider. There are some recommended protocols that should be used to contain
their apparent “teleportation”. An adult that is housed in a spacious and
well-planted natural terrarium should be able to be offered food and have
routine maintenance tasks performed without any difficulty. You just have to
ensure that you gently open the terrarium and keep disturbance to a minimum. However,
spiderlings and juveniles that are being reared in smaller containers like
vials or gallon jars present the greater problem. The senior author always,
without fail, opens these containers only inside of a large tub that acts as a
secondary containment enclosure should the spider launch itself to freedom.
More often than not, this larger tub is placed on the floor of a shower stall
that has white walls. The shower stall now acts as a third level of
containment. Of course, catch cups or jars are always at the ready, as are paintbrushes
and rubber-tipped forceps that can be used to direct the spider’s route of
travel. Whenever possible the containment vessels should be white, smooth and
free of crevices or hiding places. The white background is essential for
quickly finding escapees before they “teleport” meters away. We cannot stress
enough how a single distraction that breaks eye contact and a huntsman spider
can, presto, vanish. All escape routes must be eliminated or managed.
Another difficulty presented in
raising young Heteropoda is that they require small food that is provided more often
than tarantula keepers are accustomed to. Spiderlings should be fed almost
daily with several times each week being a minimum frequency. Newly hatched
(pinhead) crickets are preferred as these can be gut-loaded with quality feed
for maximum nutrition value before being offered as prey. Flightless fruit
flies (Drosophila melanogaster and then the larger D. hydei) can be used, and
they certainly are easy and economical to culture. However, if they are
cultured using “old school” potato flake and powdered sugar mixes they provide
minimal nutrition to their predators. Modern fruit fly media used by dart frog
keepers is preferred, and the best media is very nutritious and, thus, the
flies are healthy meals for your spiders. We also recommend dusting the flies
with a supplement. This serves two purposes: at the minimum it limits fly
movement so they are easier for you to contain during feeding and easier for
the spiders to immediately capture, and it may even provide increased
nutritional value. The latter is debatable, and perhaps doubtful based on how
spiders feed, but it certainly can’t hurt. The senior author uses Repashy
SuperVite micro-fine vitamin supplement as do other sparassid keepers and
breeders (e.g., Frank Somma, pers. comm.). The fruit fly media used is Josh’s
Frogs special blend, but we are sure there is similar vitamin-packed fly media
available in the UK and Europe.
Frank Somma (pers. comm.) has
successfully raised Heteropoda spiderlings communally in an enclosure that
includes a small fruit fly culture that has a hole that allows the flies to
escape so that the baby huntsman spiders can feed at will. Cannibalisation will
be experienced in any group enclosures, but this will reduce the number of weak
spiderlings and, with food being abundant, a method like Frank’s will result in
vigorous young that grow quickly.
An additional difficulty is that
young sparassids often require elevated humidity that would be ill advised for
most tarantula species. Stagnant, wet conditions will kill tarantulas and
sparassids alike, but whereas we preach “ventilate, ventilate, ventilate!” and
feel that poor ventilation kills most tarantula spiderlings, we are known to
raise Heteropoda spiderlings in large vials without any ventilation. The senior
author has used 50-dram clear styrene vials (inside height: 4.25 in or 10.8 cm;
inside diameter: 1.875 in or 4.763 cm) without any ventilation holes in the
lids to raise baby huntsman spiders. This prevents fruit fly prey from escaping
and keeps in essential moisture. However, feeding every other day ensures that
there is plenty of fresh air exchange (and more frequent openings of the vial
may be performed as necessary) and a careful balance is achieved between “too
wet” and “too dry” This is the result of experience and frequent attention to
the moisture cycle.
Sparassid Enclosures
Young huntsman spiders are easily
raised in a series of progressively larger cups familiar to all
arachnoculturists. An adult huntsman spider can be housed in a vertically
oriented 10-gallon aquarium with a polycarbonate front. What would have been
the top opening is now the front-facing opening, and this is typically covered a
clear acrylic or polycarbonate panel that is hinged at the bottom third and has
one or more screen vents set into round holes. This style of
terrarium is popular among dart frog keepers and readily adaptable to
arachnoculture. They also will fare well in translucent plastic storage
containers that have been appropriately ventilated. A very simple and effective
enclosure can be created with one of these inexpensive containers with the
addition of some damp substrate and a piece of cork bark. The
addition of a length of silk or plastic plant may be aesthetically pleasing,
but the easier you make it for your huntsman spider to hide the greater your
chance of not knowing where it is when you take off the lid to offer food.
Remember that whole teleportation thing?
An Overview of Courtship, Mating
and Reproduction
Sparassid spiders typically have a
lengthy courtship and the male is rarely attacked after mating. In fact, many
huntsman spiders are found to live together in large colonies. The female
Heteropoda sp. produces a flat, oval egg sac of white papery silk containing up
to 200 eggs. Some large females, particularly in captivity, may produce even
larger sacs. She then places it under bark or a rock and stands guard over it,
without eating, for about three weeks. Some species instead protectively carry
their egg sac beneath their bodies (e.g., H. venatoria). When nesting or
guarding her egg sac the female can be quite aggressive, and will often rear up
in a threat/defensive display if provoked.
Notes on Breeding
A simple breeding arena (aka
“chamber”) can be created from a large storage container that includes a large
slab of cork bark to create a “dance floor” for the mating pair and has enough
room to place the female’s enclosure, or perhaps that of both male and female. The senior author uses a similar technique to pair Poecilotheria
and other tarantula spiders.
The concept behind a breeding
chamber is to provide a large and neutral area for the introduction of males
and females. A large storage tub can easily contain both a cereal container
style enclosure housing a female and a gallon jar holding a male. Both lids can
be left on for a few days and the pair will become aware of each other via
pheromones and, in the case of theraphosids, by courtship tapping. For
sparassid spiders the junior author uses the procedure described here.
Once the female’s enclosure is
placed in the breeding chamber the male is “gently” introduced. In most
cases, the lid is left on the female’s enclosure until the male has found a
place within the chamber to settle down and get comfortable. This reduces the
risk of a nervous male bolting right into an unsuspecting female’s container and
eliciting a feeding response from her. Once the male has become accustomed to
the breeding chamber and found a place to rest, the lid of the female’s enclosure
is carefully removed and the lid that covers the breeding chamber is securely
fastened. Copulation is rarely observed, and males generally don't begin
courtship ritual until the room has been dark for some time. The following day
the male is removed and placed back into his enclosure. Experience has shown
that a single night of cohabitation will result in mating and multiple pairings
are unnecessary.
Females are heavily fed during the
weeks after mating to prepare them for egg sac production. About three
weeks after the female produces her sac, her enclosure is moved into a larger airtight
container in anticipation of a couple hundred fast-moving huntsman spiderlings
escaping the airs of the adult female’s enclosure. On some occasions, the sac
is pulled and incubated in a 32 oz. (one liter) cup with some damp peat moss or
coco fiber on the bottom. Once the spiderlings hatch and are ready to be separated,
rehousing them into individual vials still needs to be done over a larger bin
with a tight fitting lid, as the babies will start to scatter once the lid of
the incubator cup is removed. Only as many spiderlings as can be reasonably
cared for are separated into vials. Others are traded to breeder friends or
offered for sale. Any remaining spiderlings are left in the incubator cup to
cull each other, and then the largest and strongest surviving ones are
eventually separated from there. That may sound cruel, but is the reality
of hatching hundreds to thousands baby sparassids each year. Raising
spiderlings of huntsman or wandering spiders is more time consuming and labor
intensive than raising young tarantulas. They require more frequent feedings,
require more caution during feeding to prevent escapes and demand small prey
that presents its own problems.
Some Popular Species
Heteropoda boiei (Doleschall, 1859)
This is a giant species of
Heteropoda with females reaching a body length of 37 mm [1.5 in].
Known from Singapore, Malaysia, Sumatra, Java and Brunei, it is largely arboreal
and normally found on rainforest tree trunks.
Heteropoda davidbowie Jäger, 2008
There is perhaps no huntsman spider
more spectacular than Heteropoda davidbowie. This species is known from
Thailand (Yala), Malaysia (Padang), Singapore and Indonesia (Sumatra) and was
given the rock star legend's name by Jäger in 2008. Females may vary from
grayish-brown to orange. Males have a median longitudinal reddish line that
runs from the eyes to the middle of the abdomen.
 |
| Heteropoda davidbowie, penultimate male |
Heteropoda lunula (Doleschall,
1857)
As splendid and spectacular as
H.
davidbowie is, it could be argued that no
Heteropoda species is more gorgeous
than
H. lunula. Doleschall described the species as
Olios lunula in 1857. It is
known from India to Vietnam, Malaysia, Java, Sumatra and Borneo. Taxonomically,
it was transferred to many different genera and species over the years until
Jäger reestablished called it
Heteropoda lunula in 2002.
 |
| Heteropoda lunula |
Heteropoda tetrica Thorell, 1897
This species is primarily a
creature of the forest floor, but can also be found at the bottom of tree
trunks and among low branches. It is a large species that is widespread in
Southeast Asia. It is highly variable in appearance, but is popularly known as
the “Black Jaw Huntsman” due to its black chelicerae. This
species varies greatly in both size and colour and pattern from one locality to
another (Euseman and Jäger, 2009). For example, the spider recently known in
arachnoculture as Heteropoda sp. “Borneo yellow” is, in fact, H. tetrica.
Heteropoda venatoria (Linnaeus,
1767)
This pantropical species is for
many arachnoculturist’s the first introduction to the world of huntsman spider
husbandry. It is often found in homes and barns throughout its
range, but also can be found in gardens and on tree trunks. Females have a
white band across their clypeus (face) and carry their flat disc-shaped egg sac
under the body.
 |
| Heteropoda venatoria, adult female - Phetchaburi, Thailand |
A number of “new species” have
recently arrived in arachnocultural collections. These include the “Malaysian
Burgundy” and “Sumatra Violet”. All of the
above species and new forms are being bred in captivity and becoming
increasingly more available. Additionally, other sparassid taxa are
increasingly kept and bred. For example, the Cameroon, Africa species
Barylestis scutatus has become established in American and European breeding
collections.
Summary
There is a great allure to these
swift and diverse predators. If you’re drawn to tarantula keeping because of
their ambush hunting, you’ll be fascinated by the stealthy habits of the
huntsman spiders and their warp speed attacks. They don’t share the longevity
of theraphosid spiders and most live only two or three years. However brief it
is, a huntsman spider’s lifetime offers wonders for those who observe, and
beauty for those who look.
There’s even a species called
Heteropoda jacobii Strand, 1911. However, since the senior author wasn’t born
for another fifty-plus years and his Transylvanian father’s name was spelled “Jakobi” until
he reached America, this spider honours some other bloke of no relation. Since
this precludes a Heteropoda ever being named after him, Michael hopes to discover
a new Olios species instead.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank their
mutual friends John Apple and Frank Somma for information sharing, provided
specimens, and breeding loans of many true spiders including the sparassids
covered in this article. Both gentlemen were interviewed for contributions to
this article.
References
Bertkau, P. 1872. Über die
Respirationsorgane der Araneen. Archiv für Naturgeschichte 38: 208-233.
Doleschall, L. 1857. Bijdrage tot
de Kenntis der Arachniden van den Indischen Archipel. Natuurkundig Tijdschrift
voor Nederlandsch-Indie 13: 339-434.
Doleschall, L. 1859. Tweede
Bijdrage tot de Kenntis der Arachniden van den Indischen Archipel. Acta
Societatis Scientiarum Indica-Neerlandica 5: 1-60.
Eusemann, P. & P. Jäger. 2009. Heteropoda
tetrica Thorell, 1897 – variation and biogeography, with emphasis on copulatory
organs (Araneae: Sparassidae). Contrib. Nat. Hist. 12: 499–516.
Jãger, P. 1999. Sparassidae - the
valid scientific name for the huntsman spiders (Arachnida: Araneae).
Arachnologische Mitteilungen 17: 1-10.
Jäger, P. 2001. Diversität der
Riesenkrabbenspinnen im Himalaya -- die Radiation zweier Gattungen in den
Schneetropen (Araneae, Sparassidae, Heteropodinae). Courier Forschungsinstitut
Senckenberg 232: 1-136.
Jäger, P. 2002. Heteropodinae:
transfers and synonymies (Arachnida: Araneae: Sparassidae). Acta Arachnologica,
Tokyo 51: 33-61.
Jäger, P. 2014. Heteropoda
Latreille, 1804: new species, synonymies, transfers and records (Araneae:
Sparassidae: Heteropodinae). Arthropoda Selecta 23(2): 145-188.
Latreille, P.A. 1804. Histoire
naturelle générale et particulière des Crustacés et des Insectes. Paris 7,
144-305.
Rovner, J.S. 1980. Vibration in
Heteropoda venatoria (Sparassidae): a third method of sound production in
spiders. Journal of Arachnology 8, 193-200.
Strand, E. 1911. Spinnentiere aus
Neu-Guinea (Opiliones, Psechridae und Clubionidae) gesammelt von Dr.
Schlaginhaufen. Abhandlungen und Berichte des Königlich-Zoologischen und
Anthropologisch-Ethnografischen Museums zu Dresden 13(5): 1-16.
Thorell, T. 1897. Araneae paucae
Asiae australis. Bihang till Kungliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar
22(6): 1-36.
