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A Guide to Common Singapore Spiders
by Joseph K H Koh
  Domestic Huntsman Spider
Heteropoda venatoria (Linne) 1767
 
close-up of large brown female
A female

close-up of female on bark
A hairy Huntsman Spider that lives on foliage in secondary forests.
 Females can be recognised by a white band across their "faces" (clypeus). The males have a pair of dark brown patches on the carapace.

Nocturnal, cockroach eater. Eggs are laid in a whitish, flat cushion-like egg sac which is grasped by the palps and carried under the body as the mother moves around.

The spiders in this family are large wandering spiders which move sideways and include the domestic "Huntsman Spiders". 		Classification: Family Sparassidae, Huntsman Spiders
Habitat: Inside houses, occasionally on tree trunks in gardens or secondary forest.
Female: 23-3 mm.
Male: 20-30 mm.
Distribution: Throughout the tropics.
close-up of hairy female
A female Lichen Spider
(Pandercetes sp.)
The last two segments of the legs (tarsi and metatarsi) are furnished with a dense brush of hairs (scopula). Eyes are arranged in two rows. In Heteropoda, the lateral eyes are more prominent than the median eyes, especially in the posterior row.
  From "A Guide to Common Singapore Spiders" by Joseph K. H. Koh
BP Guide to Nature Series published by the Singapore Science Centre and sponsored by British Petroleum
© 2000 Joseph K H Koh