Message about the spider hunter. Spider Kamechaty hunter. Dolomedesy. Appearance description - general features

I used to tell you about the goliath bird-eating spider or Blond's theraphosis and called it in ours the biggest spider in the world. After all, the span of his legs reaches 28 centimeters. But apparently someone found another spider and stretched its legs a little wider by 30 centimeters and now it is called the largest spider in the world. Or would it be more correct to be the longest?

Let's find out what kind of spider it is.

Photo 2.

One of Asia's largest spiders, Heteropoda maxima (aka giant hunter spider), also lives in hard-to-reach places.

Photo 3.

The span of his legs reaches 30 centimeters: according to this indicator, he has no equal in the world. Like any self-respecting spider from a fairy tale, he lives in a cave.

Photo 4.

In 2001, Peter Jaeger discovered this species in the collection of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, after which he traveled to the remote corners of Laos to see it with his own eyes in its natural habitat.
Why this spider grows to such a size is still unknown.

Photo 5.

"It's hard to find a definitive explanation," Yager says, "but it seems to me that in the case of Heteropoda maxima, one of the reasons is probably related to its cave lifestyle. There is less prey than outside, that is, the spider grows more slowly, and perhaps that is why eventually becomes so big."

Unfortunately, the fame of the giant hunter spider has already led to sad consequences. According to Yager, the population is declining due to unregulated demand from rare animal and insect dealers.

Photo 6.

Large hunting spiders are also found in Australia. They usually hide under exfoliated tree bark, but sometimes their long legs peek out from behind wall clocks and even from behind sun visors in cars.

They prey on harmful insects, such as flies, and therefore can be considered quite useful creatures.

Photo 7.

Heteropoda maxima lives in the Lao province of Khammouan, where it probably inhabits caves. However, unlike other spiders that inhabit caves, its eyes are not reduced.

Photo 8.

Both genders are the same color. The main color is brownish yellow. There are several irregular dark spots on the cephalothorax. The abdomen is somewhat darker than the cephalothorax and has two small dark indentations. Chelicerae, labium and coxa are dark red-brown. There are dark spots on the pedipalps. Males are slightly smaller. Very little is known about these interesting spiders.

Photo 9.

Photo 10.

Photo 11.

Photo 12.

Photo 13.

Photo 14.

Photo 15.

Photo 16.

Photo 17.

Photo 18.

Photo 19.

Photo 20.

sources

The hunter's limb (lat. Dolomedes fimbriatus) is a spider from the family of Tramp Spiders (Pisauridae). He has the ability to walk on the surface of the water, hunting mainly for small fish.

It is often referred to as the fishing spider. Arachnid in the course of evolution lost the ability to weave nets, having learned to detect prey in the aquatic environment with the help of numerous sensitive spikes located on its limbs.

Spreading

The species is found almost throughout temperate Europe and Asia, but in many regions it has disappeared in recent years or is considered very rare. The largest isolated populations have survived in Poland, the Baltic and Scandinavian countries, as well as in the western part of Russia.

Dolomedes fimbriatus often coexists in the same biotopes with its relative (Dolomedes plantarius), which lives only on the European continent.

The spider settles in close proximity to water on the banks of slowly flowing rivers, lakes and swamps. It can be found in wet meadows, coastal forests and gardens.

Behavior

Kamchataya hunter leads a solitary lifestyle. He likes to take sunbaths for a long time, basking in the sun in the middle of sedges or reeds. Brownish fluff on the tips of the legs and the use of the surface tension of water helps it to move along the water surface. In case of danger, he dives and waits out the threat under water.

When diving, the hairy body of the spider is covered with air bubbles, which burst when emerging.

Thanks to this, it always remains dry and does not get wet. To move through the water, the second and third pair of limbs are involved, which are not straightened, but are in a half-bent position and slightly rotate around their axis. On land, the spider walks like other arachnids.

Banded hunters are able to get their own food both in water bodies and in their vicinity. They guard their prey in ambush or pursue at short distances. Their diet includes insects, other types of spiders, tadpoles, small fish and frogs.

The predator grabs the prey with lightning speed with its chelicerae and injects deadly poison into its body by means of a bite. As a rule, the victim dies within a few seconds. The meal takes place on the beach. Sometimes it takes several hours for the victim's insides to be digested under the influence of spider secrets. Only after that the predator drinks the resulting slurry from it. Large prey is hunted mainly by females during the maturation of eggs.

reproduction

The mating season runs from May to June. The male refrains from offering gifts to his beloved, but simply waits patiently for her to catch some hunting trophy and be busy eating it. At this time, he cautiously approaches her and, seizing the right moment, mates. Careless suitors are eaten on the spot.

Females lay up to 500 eggs twice at the end of June in a roundish light gray or light brown cocoon about 1 cm in diameter.

It attaches itself to low-growing coastal vegetation and is vigilantly guarded by its mother. If necessary, she can move it with her chelicerae to a safer place.

Nymphs develop over two years, often away from the shore. After the first wintering, they molt in May and take on the appearance of adult animals, painted in light yellowish-green tones. A year later, the second molt occurs, after which the spiders become sexually mature. After breeding, they die in mid or late August.

Description

The body length of males is 10-13 mm, and that of females is 15-22 mm. The color varies from yellow-brown to dark brown. On the sides of the body are white or yellowish lines. Many nymphs and adult spiders may not have them. Adult males have a small pattern on the back like a whitish, yellowish or bluish heart.

On the front of the head are 4 pairs of eyes. 4 light long lines pass through the abdomen. The whole body is covered with a shiny soft fluff. The limbs are brown and comparatively long. They are equipped with miniature spikes that act as a sense of touch that reacts to any living creatures swimming in the water.

To keep on the surface of the water, the border spiders have special water-repellent hairs with a fat-like substance growing on the tips of their legs.

Spiders are small predators, smart and cunning creatures of nature. Most of them are selfish, hunting only for themselves, but there is a group of spiders among them who hunt with the whole flock (social spiders). Spiders hunt in the most sophisticated ways: weave traps - nets of ingenious web designs, shoot with web bullets, sit in ambush, introduce the victim into a hypnotic state. A web hanging between bushes, tree branches is a simple trap - a net.

on this topic

From the frame of a spider - a digger, digging a deep mink, braids it with a web in the form of a roof over the mink, resembling a small hump on the surface of the earth. As soon as a potential victim stumbles upon a web hump, the two legs of the spider immediately grab it, press it against the roof and pull it into the nest. Spiders have poor eyesight, so the web is of great importance to them. Communication with the outside world, catching prey, building a shelter, protecting eggs, settling young spiders (with the help of the wind) - all this happens thanks to the web.

The spider's web is a real miracle of nature. Inside the spider there is a real weaving workshop, which is capable of producing threads of different thicknesses, a sticky substance for lubricating the web threads. The length of the web is equal to the length of the equator, although its mass does not exceed 400 grams. In terms of elasticity and strength, the spider's web is one of the most resistant materials that exist on Earth.

There are several types of hunter spiders.

Appearance description - general features

Hunter spiders live on almost all continents, differ in size, color, lifestyle, reproduction. The most famous 3 species are inhabitants of tropical countries.

Australian hunter spider (lat. Heteropoda)

Leg span is 30 cm, body length is 46 mm. The biggest . The color is varied. Brown, gray, green shades predominate. Females are always more than males by almost 2 times. The abdomen is convex, 4 pairs of powerful, long limbs are attached to the cephalothorax. There are 8 eyes on the head, 2 of them are main, the rest are auxiliary.

On a note!
The Australian giant spider is nocturnal, ambush hunting or stalking prey. It does not weave trapping nets, but envelops the entrance to its own shelter. An adult lives up to 3 years.

Banded hunter spider

Representative of the Eurasian continent. The body size of the female is 2 cm, the male is 1.3 cm. The color is yellow-brown, black-brown. Bright yellow stripes on the sides. In young spiders, the body is uniformly colored yellow, there are no stripes or spots. Settles along the banks of reservoirs in moist soil. It does not form trapping nets. It hunts aquatic, land insects, fish, fry, frogs. Runs fast, dives.

On a note!
The life expectancy of sexually mature females is 1.5 years. Males die much earlier - almost immediately after fertilization, very often they are eaten by the female.

Lives in European countries, occurs. In total, about 1 thousand varieties are known. Differs in bright color, large size. The body length of females reaches 2 cm, excluding legs, males are half as much. The cephalothorax is brown, there are longitudinal yellow stripes on the abdomen. The limbs are 6 cm long and covered with hairs and spines. A photo of a hunter spider with a bright color is presented below. Hunting leads from an ambush, settles near water bodies. Runs fast, builds a raft of plants to move through the water. The female lives up to 2 years.

Interesting!
Because of their large size, bright colors, hunter spiders are often kept as a pet. In an artificial environment, they grow, mate, and reproduce.

Behavior, lifestyle

All hunters live near water bodies, they are often caught together with duckweed with a net, net. They live on water or in close proximity. Trapping nets for catching prey are not weaved, they hunt actively. Once on the water, they quickly form a raft from improvised materials - dry grass, leaves, bark. They entangle several parts with a cobweb, sit on a raft, calmly swim in a swamp, a deep puddle.

The basis of the diet are insects. As well as fry, crustaceans, snails, caterpillars. Large specimens prey on fish, frogs, newts, snakes, snakes. They attack from a hidden place. Inject poison, saliva. The first substance paralyzes the victim, the second - liquefies the insides to the state of broth. After a few minutes, the predator starts the meal.

They come together in pairs only during the mating season. After fertilization, a hungry female can safely eat her "boyfriend". For laying eggs, it forms a cocoon of cobwebs. At one time, it fits from 500 to 1000 pieces. The female attaches them to plants near the reservoir or carries them on herself. The incubation period is 3 weeks. Young spiders almost immediately start an independent life.

Human danger

Hunters are nocturnal, in search of food they can crawl into a person's house. They hide under furniture, in shoes, among clothes, cabinets with dishes.

On a note!
At the site there is swelling, swelling, redness. In people with weak immunity, allergic people, young children, there is often a deterioration in well-being - weakness, dizziness, headache, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting. The condition returns to normal in a few days. To speed up the effect, antihistamines are taken. The hunter is not included.

Spiders instill fear in people and can even provoke a persistent phobia of themselves. Many visitors to the shores of Australia are more than concerned about the venomous eight-legged friends of the Australians.

It's true - this country is home to some of the most poisonous spiders in the world. But the reputation of Australian spiders is exaggerated - the death in April 2016 was the first recorded death from a spider bite in the country since 1981.

Spiders are the most widely distributed venomous creatures in Australia, with an estimated 10,000 species living in a variety of ecosystems. Despite the fact that spiders live all around us, from the city center to the bushes in the desert, their bites are not frequent. In fact, spiders are less dangerous than snakes or sharks, or even bees, whose sting can cause severe allergies.

Antidotes for the venom of two of the country's most dangerous spiders, the funnel-web spider and the Australian widow spider, were developed in 1950 and 1981, respectively. It is used only when the poisoning is really severe, which is rare.

Spider venom contains a cocktail of chemicals, some of which can actually be harmful to humans - but when you think about it, humans are not the intended victim, and such a small amount cannot harm us much. The venom of the spider is intended for small prey and is produced in minute quantities, which, although a lethal dose for tiny animals and insects, can be processed by a larger organism.

10 Common garden orb weaver spider, Eriophora sp

As the name suggests, garden orb weaving spiders are a typical species of Australia. Their bite has only a minor effect - a little pain at the site of the bite, but at the same time the spiders are quite aggressive: they are the most biting of the common species in the country.

Between 1.5 cm and 3 cm in size, these spiders live in all gardens and weave webs between trees and hedges where insects are most likely to fly over and get caught in sticky nets. Active at night, they hide during the day and rest hanging on a web under a leaf.

Small video:

9 Hunter spider (Huntsman spiders, Sparassidae family)

Hunter spiders are widespread in Australia. They are famous for the fact that these slightly (up to 15 cm in size) scary, hairy black spiders periodically unexpectedly jump out from behind the curtains. In fact, hunter spiders are reluctant to bite and often run away when approached, and their venom is not dangerous to humans.

Accidents pose a great danger when, in horror, drivers inadequately react to the appearance of a huge spider from behind the sun visor or from under the dashboard of a car in motion. Despite their intimidating appearance, hunter spiders can be helpful. They fight pests by consuming large numbers of harmful insects in homes.

Small video:

8 Recluse spider, Loxosceles reclusa

The recluse spider has a potentially dangerous hemotoxic venom that poisons the blood and skin. There was even a mailing of letters about this spider, allegedly tissue necrosis develops from its bites and huge terrible wounds appear, but it was just a prank to scare people.

In 20 years of research on these spiders in Australia, their range has not increased and not a single case of serious poisoning has been reported. Therefore, despite the myth, this spider can hardly be considered very dangerous in Australia, although bites are known with serious consequences in South America. In addition, the spider has tiny fangs and no tendency to bite.

Small video:

7 Australian tarantula (Australian tarantulas, Phlogius crassipes)

Australia has its own tarantulas. They are also called tarantulas, although this is rarely justified. These spiders primarily feed on insects, including other spiders, lizards, and frogs, and occasionally prey on nestling birds.

There are mainly four genera Selenocosmia, Selenotholus, Selenotypus and Phlog iellus, found throughout the country. Despite their frighteningly large size and hairy legs (6 cm body and 16 cm leg span), tarantulas are not very dangerous to humans. They have rather painful bites due to their large fangs (1 cm long), but severe consequences (nausea, vomiting, fever) are rare. However, occasionally they manage to kill the dog. Females live for about 12 years and males for about five years.

Small video:

6 White-tailed spiders, Lampona cylindrata and Lampona murina

Lampona cylindrata is found in wild and urban areas in southern Australia, from south Queensland to Tasmania, on the east and west coasts, and Lampona murina in eastern Australia. Unlike burrowing spiders, white-tailed spiders are nomadic hunters and roam at night, hunting other spiders.

White-tailed spiders are believed to carry a necrotic, flesh-destroying venom, although scientific evidence does not support this. Recent studies have shown that the venom does not pose a great danger to humans and is limited to moderate pain at the site of the bite.

Small video:

5 Mason spider (Trap door spiders, Idiopidae family)

The method of hunting these spiders is to mask the entrance to the hole in order to deceive and drag the victim passing by, in connection with which they were named. Measuring 1.5 to 3 cm long, and as is often the case, females are significantly larger than males, but males are more aggressive when threatened.

Found in the wild or urban environment of Australia, the bite of these spiders causes only minor symptoms in humans, usually causing only local pain, but sometimes nausea, lethargy and malaise.

Small video:

4 Mouse spider (Missulena)

There are eight species of mouse spiders found throughout Australia, they are commonly found in burrows, often near rivers and bodies of water, and can occasionally be found in suburban areas.

The venom of these spiders is similar to funnel-web spiders, although they are not credited with death; Only one case of severe poisoning has been reported. Studies have shown that funnel-web spider antidote is effective for funnel-web spiders as well. It is sometimes difficult to tell the two species apart, and it is highly recommended that you treat their bites with the same caution.

Mouse spiders are quite lethargic and rarely aggressive. The females usually stay in their burrow while the males wander in search of their other half. Unlike other spiders, they are often active during the daytime, while other species from the same family prefer to be active at night to avoid heat and predators active during the day.

Small video:

3 Australian widow (Redback spider, Latrodectus hasselti)

The Australian widow is found throughout Australia, including cities. Spiders often hide in dry, sheltered areas such as garden sheds, mailboxes, and under toilet seats.

The exact number of spider bites is unknown, but about two thousand reports are received each year and about 250 people receive antivenom. There have been no deaths since the advent of the antidote in the 1950s.

The most severe bites are on females, which are about 1 cm long (larger than males) and are recognizable by the well-known red dorsal stripe from which it gets its name. They have a neurotoxic venom that is dangerous to humans, but their small fangs make many bites ineffective because the poison does not penetrate the body. The spread of the poison causes various negative effects, but the main symptom is severe and persistent pain - which can last from several hours to several days depending on the sensitivity to the poison, in addition - nausea, malaise and lethargy.

Small video:

2 Other funnel-webs (Other funnel-webs, Agelenidae)

There are about 40 funnel-web spider species in Australia, but only six cause severe envenoming, with victims usually from southern Queensland and northern New South Wales.

The most dangerous are the impressive northern arboreal funnel spider - Hadronyche formidabilis (length 4-5 cm) and the small southern Funnel spider - Hadronyche cerberea. Half of the bites of these species result in severe intoxication.

Every year, up to 30-40 people fall prey to these spiders, but there is an available and effective antidote. They feed mainly on everything from beetles to frogs, the period of greatest activity during the warmer months, from November to March.

1 Sydney Funnel Web Spider (Sydney funnel-web, Atrax robustus)

With a highly toxic venom produced in large quantities and large fangs, the Sydney Funnel Spider is without a doubt the deadliest spider in Australia and possibly the world.

Found in New South Wales, in forests, as well as in densely populated cities, they burrow in moist, hidden places. They can crawl in backyards and sometimes fall into pools. They are not common, but they can be very aggressive when threatened.

Measuring only 1.5 to 3.5 cm in size, the Sydney Funnel Spider has large fangs and they are so powerful that they can even pierce through toenails. Their venom contains the protein Delta atracotoxin, which acts directly on the human nervous system and can disrupt the functioning of organs, and the bite of a male can even kill. Every sixth bite causes a severe reaction, an antidote was found in 1981 and no deaths have been recorded since.

Small video: