CLOSED: Do Spiders really SMILE @ U ?

I'm curiout to know if this Spider was smiling at me ?
What type of Spider is it ?

Of course it's smiling, it's having its picture taken for the world-wide web.

Genus Neosparassus, a Huntsman spider, but I don't know which

I thought this was a Huntsman ?
8mm between the eyes .

What the heck is that?!!!! It looks like it could take down any copper head I find lurking under my pots with slap of it paw, er claw!

http://www.xs4all.nl/~ednieuw/australian/huntsman/Huntsman.html

http://www.amonline.net.au/factsheets/huntsman_spiders.htm

I think that is its cousin. Check out the helpful creature in the first link, first picture

Those two things at the front left & right with hooks on are not legs .
Ther are patle something or other .
He uses them to stroke the female during courtship .
Quote from another spiders mating .

OMG. That certainly doesn't sound like courtship to me. It sounds more like rape! Thanks for more than I will ever need to know about that hairy huntman guy! LOL!

Ginger you have the best pictures!! Love both of those spiders.

Kell, they are both huntsmen. The little green one is a juvenile. It looks pretty much like this one: http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/showimage/2037/
which grows up to look like this: http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/showimage/2036/
Almost certainly a Neosparassus, but the species in your area of Queensland are probably different from those here in Victoria,

Kennedy

OK , Here is one more .
This was a four inch wide Water lily flower .

And this is what that White spot is .

This is how big the spider really is .
Lucky they don't spin a web .

Kell, that one is a Flower Spider or Crab Spider in the family Thomisidae. I cannot find an exact match, but it is quite like the White Crab Spider Thomisus spectabilis: http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_spiders/WhiteCrabSpider.htm
but doesn't have quite the right shape of abdomen. It is also quite like the Flower Spider - Diaea evanida: http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_spiders/FlowerSpider.htm
but your has hairs on the abdomen and none of the images I can find seem to show those.

This site: http://lifeunseen.com/index2_list_101.php shows a lot of Thomisidae from close to your area, but again I can't get an exact match,

Kennedy

Kell, that one is a big huntsman and it looks very close to this one http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_spiders/GiantHuntsmanSpider.htm
which is tentatively identified as a Typostola sp., but not a close enough ID to add it to BugFiles,

Ken

WOW Ken that sure confuses things .
I always thought all Huntsman Spiders were the same .
This Female almost has as much HAIR on her rump as my cat .

Is there no privacy in this Forum ???
Nuff Said .

10 Mins in the fridge and she lay very still .
But was she ever wild a few minutes later . :o(

No all huntsman are not the same. There are quite a few different huntsman. I just checked the Australian Faunal Directory for the family Sparassidae and they list about 146 different species in 17 different genera Australia-wide. They won't all be in your area, but there will be quite a variety. This excellent site from the Brisbane Area shows images of at least 6 different huntsmen: http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_spiders/Sparassidae.htm

On my Morwell National Park web site, I record 4 different huntsmen, with images of 3 of them: http://morwellnp.pangaean.net/cgi-bin/results.cgi?start=0&target=Sparassidae&type=Spiders&category=family_name&no_to_show=12&x=43&y=29

I met my first huntsman when I had been in Australia a couple of days and was driving in Hobart in Tasmania. As I pulled up at the traffic lights in the centre of Hobart, a large huntsman appeared on my rear-view mirror, right in front of me in the car!

Ken

What a HOOT Ken .
Quite obviously didn't turn you off for life .

Sorry to interrupt, but I was just looking around in the insect ids and have say I've always wanted to visit Australia....but now I'm maybe reconsidering! Ginger, you're one brave woman! Oh, and it's interesting to see that big spider's rear-end.....who knew? Well, gotta go, pretty sure large, crazed spiders are plotting to jump me from behind at any moment.......

Great pics!

Kell, you should put your picture in for kls_01....snort....anyhoo, how did you pick Ginger749 as your sign in name? SheVerne

I'm sure I have told this story 100 times B4 .


This message was edited Oct 7, 2007 1:49 PM

Kell, Thanks for the info on your name. You are a very interesting fella and I enjoy reading your posts and the pictures are great. You show us plants and bugs that we never see in the U. S. Keep it coming. SheVerne

Oh my gosh, sorry!!! I'm quite sure you are the manliest of men......I just was stupid to assume you were a female! Ginger brings to mind Ginger from Gilligan's Island(a girl) and with Kell I was thinking Kelly, which I only know girls named Kelly around here. I put two and two together and thought I was safe assuming you were a woman! &%#@!$ language barriers!!! Either way, hope you forgive my mix up, and you do have great pictures....I will change my mental image of a brave, redheaded Aussie woman bravely tramping through the brush seeking out beasts and critters to a testosterone dripping man! lol

Thanks 2vernes and kls_01 ,
Great words of encouragement .
And yes there are many more great spiders still to come .

Ok well I am guilty of making the same assumption. So I too will change my mental image.
But where is the story of your screen name?