Australian Huntsman SpiderHuntsman and Ticks Delena cancerides Holconia immanis Isopeda brachyseta Isopedella inola Isopedella leai Neosparassus calligaster Neosparassus diana Neosparassus patellatus
Known as the Tasmanian Football Spider (Neosparassus patellatus), this huntsman spider is a large fawn-brown coloured spider, with long legs that are splayed out to the sides. The leg span is up to 11 cm. Under the ‘knees’ of the legs are small violet patches. They have the distinctive black ‘badge’ mark on the underside of the abdomen. The body length of the female is slightly larger then the male.
Young Neosparassus species are often green in colour, changing to a brown colour after several moults.
Often found in grass tussocks and under loose bark, they are a sit-and-wait predator.
The female will encloses herself in a large nest made by weaving together leaves of shrubs or grasses. Her egg-sac is made from yellow silk, a papery consistency and is a circular, cushion-shape, measuring about 2 cm in diameter and 1 cm deep. The egg sac contains up to 135 eggs. The female remains with the egg-sac until the young emerge.
- 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 patellatus
Footnote & References
- Photographs Tasmanian Football Spider (Neosparassus patellatus) © Deb Taylor
- Tasmanian Football Spider Neosparassus patellatus, debtaylor142, iNatuarlistAU, https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/observations/131971078
- Neosparassus patellatus (Karsch, 1878), Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/7ec531bb-01b6-4c2b-ac68-f27c7f09a2e9
- Tasmanian Football Spider (Neosparassus patellatus), iNaturalistAU, https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/taxa/553879-Neosparassus-patellatus
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