Heteropoda venatoria is a species of spider in the family Sparassidae, the huntsman spiders. It is native to the tropical regions of the world, and it is present in some subtropical areas as an introduced species. Its common names include giant crab spider, pantropical huntsman spider, cane spider, African Huntsman Spider, or giant mombasa spider .
Description
Adults have a flat, brown body long, with leg spans of . The female may be slightly larger than the male, particularly in the abdomen, but the male has longer legs and larger tips on its pedipalps. The clypeus, the area just in front of the eyes, is cream or yellowish, and the carapace behind the eyes has a wide band which is usually tan in the female and cream in the male. The body is not very hairy, but the legs have erectile setae, each of which is marked with a black dot. Egg sacs are variable in size, usually containing over 100 eggs, with larger ones holding over 400. The spiderlings undergo their first molt while still in the sac.
The spider is not considered dangerous, but it does deliver enough venom to give a painful bite.<gallery mode="packed" heights="160">
File:Brown Huntsman Spider (Heteropoda venatoria) (6747997255).jpg|Mating
File:Heteropoda fg02.jpg|Female with egg sac
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Prey
The spider feeds on insects, which includes various species of butterflies and moths such as Deilephila elpenor. The spider captures them directly instead of spinning webs. After capturing its prey, the spider injects them with venom. In some tropical areas the spider is considered a useful resident of households because of its efficient consumption of pest insects. or sometimes wolf spiders (Not to be confused with Lycosidae, which are also called wolf spiders.)
Besides insects it has been known to prey on scorpions and bats.