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Palystes is a genus of huntsman spiders, commonly called rain spiders or lizard-eating spiders, [2] occurring in Africa, India, Australia, and the Pacific. [1] The most common and widespread species is P. superciliosus , found in South Africa, home to 12 species in the genus.
It occurs mainly on plants, where it hunts insects. It has a body length of 17–22 mm. [2] P. castaneus is the type species for the genus Palystes, and was first described by Pierre André Latreille in 1819. [1] Spiders in the genus Palystes are commonly called rain spiders, or lizard-eating spiders. [3]
They are also called giant crab spiders because of their size and appearance. Larger species sometimes are referred to as wood spiders, because of their preference for woody places (forests, mine shafts, woodpiles, wooden shacks). In southern Africa the genus Palystes are known as rain spiders or lizard-eating spiders. [4]
They have been deemed to be the world's most dangerous spiders on clinical and venom toxicity grounds, [119] though this claim has also been attributed to the Brazilian wandering spider (genus Phoneutria). [124] There were about 100 reliably reported deaths from spider bites in the 20th century, [125] compared to about 1,500 from jellyfish ...
The size of these spiders, combined with the yellow and black banding on the underside of the legs exposed when the spider is in threat pose, give them a fearsome appearance. [ 1 ] [ 4 ] An experiment was done in 1959 where a Palystes superciliosus was allowed to bite an adult guinea pig on the nose.
Sexual dimorphism in the species is small; the head-body length of the male is 55.7 cm (21.9 in) on average, while the female is around 55.2 cm (21.7 in) in length. [5] The male weighs around 9.1 kg (20 lb), while the female weighs around 8.4 kg (19 lb). [ 3 ]
About 15 species of spiders are scientifically described as being edible, with a history of human consumption. [2] These edible spiders include: Thailand zebra leg tarantula (Cyriopagopus albostriatus) which is sold fried as traditional snack in Cambodia and Thailand; Thailand Black (Cyriopagopus minax); Goliath birdeater (Theraphosa blondi);
[2] [6] Other spiders in the subfamily Cyrtarachninae, including Celaenia species from Australia and Taczanowskia species from South America, also use chemical lures to attract moths, but they catch them with their front legs. [6] Bolas spiders will try and often succeed in catching any insect that is flying nearby.