Heteropoda
| Heteropoda | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Heteropoda maxima | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Suborder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Sparassidae |
| Genus: | Heteropoda Latreille, 1804 |
| Species | |
|
see text | |
Heteropoda is a genus of spiders in the family Sparassidae, the huntsman spiders. They are mainly distributed in tropical Asia and Australia, while at least one species, H. venatoria, has a cosmopolitan distribution,[1] and H. variegata occurs in the Mediterranean.[2]
These spiders catch and eat insects, but in a laboratory study one species readily ate fish and tadpoles when offered,[1] and H. venatoria has been known to eat scorpions and bats.[3]
The largest species in the genus, H. maxima, is about 4.6 centimeters long but has a legspan of up to 30 centimeters, therefore being the largest of any extant spider.[4]
Species
As of 2006, there were about 180 to 190 species in the genus, but the group requires taxonomic study and revision.[5][6]
Species include:
- Heteropoda acuta Davies, 1994 — Queensland, Australia
- Heteropoda amphora Fox, 1936 — China, Hong Kong
- Heteropoda cervina L. Koch, 1875 — Queensland
- Heteropoda dagmarae Jäger & Vedel, 2005 — Laos, Thailand
- Heteropoda davidbowie Jäger, 2008 — Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra
- Heteropoda fischeri Jäger, 2005 — India
- Heteropoda hosei Pocock, 1897 — Borneo
- Heteropoda maxima Jäger, 2001 — Laos
- Heteropoda venatoria Linnaeus, 1767 — Pantropical
- Heteropoda zuviele Jäger, 2008 — Vietnam
References
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- 1 2 Airamé, S. and P. Sierwald. (2000). Hunting and feeding behavior of one Heteropoda species in lowland rainforest on Borneo (Aranae, Sparassidae). Journal of Arachnology 28(2), 251-53.
- ↑ Jager, P. and H. Ono. (2000). Sparassidae of Japan. I. New species of Olios, Heteropoda, and Sinopoda, with notes on some known species (Araneae: Sparassidae: Sparassinae and Heteropodinae). Acta Arachnologica 49(1), 41-60.
- ↑ Ross, J., et al. (1982). The life cycle of Heteropoda venatoria (Linnaeus) (Araneae: Heteropodidae). Psyche 89, 297-306.
- ↑ Iaeger, P. (2001). A new species of Heteropoda (Araneae, Sparassidae, Heteropodinae) from Laos, the largest huntsman spider? Zoosystema 23(3), 461-66.
- ↑ Jäger, P. (2005). A 'swimming' Heteropoda species from Borneo (Araneae, Sparassidae, Heteropodinae). Journal of Arachnology 33(3), 715-18.
- ↑ Eusemann, P. and P. Jäger. (2006). Heteropoda schwendingeri Jäger 2005 (Araneae: Sparassidae) – first description of female with notes on intraspecific variation and evidences supporting species status. Zootaxa 1325, 327-34.