The Badge Huntsman Spider (Neosparassus diana)

There are not many Hunstman Spiders that I would call beautiful but this one surely is. It belongs to the Sparassidae family and is known as the Shield spider or Badge Hunstman (Neosparassus diana). It hunts at night, usually on tree trunks and among foliage. By day it will be hidden away under some loose bark or even under stones. It has been known to occasionally come into houses. I've certainly had them on my back screen door but, fortunately, they have not yet learned how to pull the handle :-)

These spiders are fairly widespread in Tasmania and also occur on the mainland. The colour can range from yellowish brown to orange. The female’s body length can be up to 22mm and the male 17mm. It has two straight rows of eyes with the eyes at the back being smaller. Between the two rows of eyes are some yellowish white hairs which to me gives the appearance of eye brows.

_{( All photos, videos, and text on this blog are by @mostly.nature )}

Another identifying feature is the ‘badge’ on the ventral surface of the abdomen. While this badge can vary a bit, it basically consists of a black area with two white spots. I did not fancy holding the spider on it’s back while taking it’s photo. Instead, using Gimp, I have drawn a rough picture of the ‘badge’ which I have included below.

At this time of year (Sep/Oct) the female will make a nest by joining together some leaves or grass and within this she makes her egg-sac.

Further Reading:

• Whytre, Robert and Anderson, Greg (2017) A Field Guide to Spiders of Australia - CSIRO Publishing

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