There are e nearly one hundred genera and over 1300 species of giant crab spiders. The classification of the huntsman spider puts them in the Sparassidae family, which is broken down into classifications of genera and species. Huntsman Spider Species, Types, and Scientific Name Though huntsman spiders don’t spin webs, they’ll spin a sort of cocoon out of silk when it’s time for them to molt or lay eggs.While some huntsman spiders are solitary, others live happily in large colonies.This can take weeks, and during that time the mother spider doesn’t eat. When the eggs hatch, she’ll guard the spiderlings until they molt several times. They keep their eggs in a sac or purse made of silk and will either stand guard over it or carry it in her jaws. Female huntsman spiders are fiercely protective of both their eggs and their young.Males in many species drum their abdomens or their legs on the ground to crate vibrations that are interesting to the females, who lure them with pheromones. Huntsman spiders are surprisingly gentle during courtship.Some people welcome huntsman spiders in their homes because they eat pests such as cockroaches. But like other spiders, their venom evolved to subdue their regular prey. Like other spiders, they are venomous as opposed to poisonous, and some are capable of inflicting painful bites on human beings. They have eight eyes and fairly good eyesight. Most are gray or brown but may have bands and markings over their legs and bodies. They are usually large, hairy spiders that hold their legs crabwise, which gives them the alternate name of giant crab spider. There are 96 genera and 1383 species as of 2021. Huntsman spiders belong to the Sparassidae family and get their common name because they are efficient and lethal hunters.

Binding sand together with silk, the spiders build burrows in the sand dunes that protect them from the scorching daytime heat (they are nocturnal) as well as those cartwheel-inducing predators.The largest spider by leg span in the world. Just as odd as the flic-flac spider’s escape method are its tube-shaped homes.

In fact, if on an especially predator-packed day the spider has to use this maneuver too many times, it can actually die of exhaustion. When it’s not being chased by a predator, the flic-flac spider would just assume a walk like its less gymnastic cousins, since the handspring move requires a ton of energy. Unlike the golden wheel spider that can only tumble down a declining slope, the flic-flac spider can manage completely flat surfaces and was even observed trekking up inclines.īelow is video of the flic-flac spider doing its thing and the Tabbot robot mimicking that thing. While the motion may look similar, it is fundamentally different, since the flic-flac spider’s muscles, not gravity, are powering the flips. Most of the time, the somersaults are performed forwards, but Jager did observe the spiders occasionally rolling backwards as well. If you’re a learned student of unusual spider locomotion, this little tumbler may remind you of the golden wheel spider native to the Namib desert, which cartwheels downhill to evade predators. Inspired by Rechenberg, Jager named the spider after him. Inspired by his find, Rechenberg designed a robot called Tabbot based on the spider’s movement. Peter Jager, a spider expert at the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt for identification. Ingo Rechenberg, who was immediately captivated by the spider’s movement and passed the critter on to Dr. In an odd twist of fate, the flic-flac spider was first discovered in the Moroccan desert by German bionics expert Prof. This escape maneuver, which can spin the arachnid forward at around 6 feet per second, has already inspired a concept for robots that tumble across loose sand. It uses an incredibly agile hand spring motion to evade predators: It cartwheels. A new species of spider, dubbed the “flic-flac spider” or Cebrennus rechenbergi, from the Erg Chebbi region of Morocco has been described in the science journal Zootaxa. If anybody ever decides to start an arthropod olympiad, we now know which species will be a contender for the floor exercise. Weird Feature(s): Hand-spring getaway, totally tubular houses Range: The super sandy Erg Chebbi region of Morocco

Flic flac spider