Australian Huntsman SpiderHuntsman and Ticks Delena cancerides Holconia immanis Isopeda brachyseta Isopedella inola Isopedella leai Neosparassus calligaster Neosparassus diana Neosparassus patellatus
This 28mm (body length) Huntsman spider made its presence known by crawling up my arm as I was dragging dead branches to a different part of the Katanning property, Katanning being the regional centre of Western Australia’s Great Southern agricultural region.
Len van der Waag
Neosparrasus calligaster is a species belonging to the group of Australian Huntsmans, family Sparassidae. With the common name, the Beautiful Badge Huntsman, it is also known as the Shield Huntsman Spider.
The species has a recognisable prominent shield shape markings on the underneath of the abdomen (a black and red patch on the underside).
The colour above are orange-brown to dark brown, dark flecks, with two blackish spots on the dorsal surface of the abdomen. The legs have alternate blackish and white / yellowish bands, and fine black speckling. The male is larger than the female.
It has a recorded range from Mackay in Queensland, south through the coastal parts of eastern Australia to Victoria and South Australia, stretching inland, with limited sightings in Tasmania. There are recorded sightings in Western Australia (although the originals may possibly be vagrants).
Check out our Alice Springs Beautiful Badge Huntsman (Neosparassus calligaster)
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Subphylum: Chelicerata
- Class: Arachnida
- Order: Araneae
- Suborder: Araneomorphae
- Infraorder: Entelegynae
- Superfamily: Sparassoidea
- Family: Sparassidae
- Subfamily: Deleninae
- Genus: Neosparassus
- Species: Neosparassus calligaster
Footnote & References
- Photographs Neosparassus calligaster © Len van der Waag
- Many thanks to Micky O’Brien for species ID, member of Australian Huntsman Spiders Facebook group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/653510652232424
- Insects of Perth & South West Western Australia Facebook group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/925620167561301/
- Beautiful Badge Huntsman (Neosparassus calligaster), iNaturalistAU, https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/taxa/564915-Neosparassus-calligaster
- Neosparrasus calligaster (Thorell, 1870) Beautiful Badge Huntsman, Arachne.org.au, https://www.arachne.org.au/01_cms/details.asp?ID=2521
- Badge Huntsman Spiders, Australian Museum, https://australian.museum/learn/animals/spiders/badge-huntsman-spiders-neosparassus-sp/
Australian Huntsman SpiderHuntsman and Ticks Delena cancerides Holconia immanis Isopeda brachyseta Isopedella inola Isopedella leai Neosparassus calligaster Neosparassus diana Neosparassus patellatus
SpidersIndex of Spider Images Spiders in Australia Araneidae — Orb Weavers Arkys Australian Huntsman Spider Barking Spider Black House Spider Carepalxis sp Celaenia sp Crab Spiders Deinopidae — Net-casting Spiders Dolomedes sp Dolophones sp Flower Spiders Hackled Orbweavers (Uloboridae) Jewel Spider Jumping Spider Long Jawed Spider (Tetragnatha sp) Lynx Spider (Oxyopes) Mangrovia albida Maratus volans Missulena occatoria (Red-headed Mouse Spider) Miturgidae Nicodamidae (Red and Black Spider) Ogre-faced Net-casting Spider Poltys sp (Twig Spider) Redback Spider Scorpion-tailed Spider (Arachnura higginsi) Thomisidae Tiger Spider (Trichonephila plumipes) White-spotted Swift Spider (Nyssus albopunctatus) Wolf Spider