Saunders' Huntsman
Juvenile Female S7, dorsal
Ellura
Saunders' Huntsman
Mature Female S15, dorsal
 
                      
Saunders' Huntsman (Isopedella saundersi)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Spiders, Scorpions, Mites & Ticks (Arachnida)
Order: Spiders (Araneae)
Family: Huntsman (Sparassidae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Saunders' Huntsman (Isopedella saundersi)
This Photo:     Male S9, dorsal
Other name: Gold-Spotted Huntsman

Thank you Matthew Connors for identifying and Ben Kurek & Natasha (Ethmostigmus) for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA), the Riverland and elsewhere
These have a huge size variation. We've measured males between 13 to 22mm long. Remember males only get their palps when they are mature. Females (that we recognise are this species) also range from 11 to 29mm. It's possible some of the immature "females" are males. Usually males palps bulge more when younger, but the younger they are the more difficult it is to recognise gender and species.
Because of the
1. Eye brow
2. Spotted under legs
3. Badge is too strong
we thought these were a Badge Huntsmen (Neosparassus genus).
Interestingly, the Sternum is hairy! Quite unusual. The sternum is also black. We've not seen any images of Badge Huntsmen with black sternum.
But the long thin legs always concerned us.
The male here soon woke up and tried to jump on us

These have hairy pads on their feet and can easily walk up glass.
The females get quite colourful with age.

Copyright © 2020-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 01-Jan-2020
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.